Rice University has been celebrating its centennial year with pomp and glory in the past few months with many innovative events including lectures by eminent personalities.
As a part of its lecture series, Rice community got the opportunity to listen to U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts talk about the role of 'luck' in his nomination as the CJ, citizens' cynical opinion about the judiciary system and much more, including how some books influence your career.
The lecture titled "A Conversation with the Chief Justice," witnessed 4,750 members of the Rice and Houston communities turning out at Tudor Fieldhouse to listen to the last of five presentations in the Centennial Lecture Series.
The Chief Justice participated in the Q&A session hosted by Rice President David Leebron, giving an insight into the mind of someone who sits at the top of America's judicial system.
As the president and CJ made it clear in the beginning of the session, that no cases, past or present, could be discussed on the platform, it left lot of other avenues to be explored.
During the discussion, Roberts said that the judicial system in the country is often misunderstood by the citizens.
"People tend to think we're just part of the government like everybody else," he said. "We have pretty low approval ratings," he said, noting how those ratings shift with every big decision.
He even added that as the people's view of government is low, they tend to extend the generalisation to the judiciary too. He said, people need to understand that 'we are different,' referring to the judicial system.
At one point he even disapproved the way how justices are labelled conservative or liberal based on the decisions they make. He said it is not 'a very accurate way to view the court' by evaluating the justices' alleged liberal or conservative agenda.
When asked about the process of appointing judicial nominees, he said, rather than asking specific questions about cases and lawsuits, they could be asked more generalised and indirect question which they can easily answer.
He also added that asking a nominee about his inspirational book can prove to be useful.
"You learn something if the person sits there with a blank expression. You learn something else if they say, 'To Kill a Mockingbird' or '12 Angry Men.' You can learn about judicial philosophy and perspectives on the law by asking questions like that," he said.
On a personal note and as a response to Leebron, he said that '12 Angry Men' made him think a lot about justice.
