{"id":16118,"date":"2013-05-30T10:00:07","date_gmt":"2013-05-30T15:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/chief-justice-john-the-obscure\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:31:52","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:31:52","slug":"chief-justice-john-the-obscure","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2013\/05\/30\/chief-justice-john-the-obscure\/","title":{"rendered":"Chief Justice John the Obscure"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"FT_13.05.29_ChiefJusticeRoberts_300x350\"<\/figure>\n\n

The Supreme Court will soon wrap up its current term with major decisions expected on gay marriage, affirmative action, voting rights and other issues. No one knows how the court will rule, but here\u2019s a safe prediction: After the term, Chief Justice John Roberts will remain one of the most powerful \u2013 yet least visible \u2013 figures in American government.<\/p>\n\n

Last summer, shortly after Roberts crafted the controversial decision that upheld most of Barack Obama\u2019s health care law, just 34% could identify Roberts<\/a> from a list that included William Rehnquist, the long-deceased former chief justice, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

\"chief-justice\"<\/figure>\n\n

In 2010, even fewer (28%) were able to identify Roberts<\/a> from a similar list.<\/p>\n\n

Roberts\u2019 relative obscurity may have more to do with the public\u2019s long-established dim knowledge about the court and its practices than with him personally. A Gallup poll in 1945 found that just 37% knew it had nine members, and this was a few years after FDR\u2019s failed effort to \u201cpack\u201d the court<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

The only time the court draws substantial public notice is when it rules on a high-profile case, such as last summer\u2019s health care decision or its 2000 ruling in Bush v. Gore. <\/i>But such landmark decisions come along rarely; most court decisions are of interest only to the legal community.<\/p>\n\n

\"2012-health-care\"<\/figure>\n\n

Even some of the court\u2019s major decisions confuse many Americans. Exhibit A: the court\u2019s ruling on the Affordable Care Act. In a poll conducted just days after the ruling<\/a>, only 55% knew that the Supreme Court had upheld most of the law; 15% thought it rejected the law and 30% were not sure. A poll last month by the Kaiser Family Foundation<\/a> found that with just months to go before the many of the law\u2019s key provisions go into effect, 42% of Americans are still uncertain whether the Affordable Care Act is still the law of the land.<\/p>\n\n

Finally, in an era when courtroom video is practically ubiquitous, the Supreme Court remains defiantly camera-free. Cameras \u2013 all cameras, not just TV cameras \u2013 have been prohibited at the court since 1946. That may be a boon for courtroom sketch artists, but it ensures that the court remains a mysterious institution to the public, which relies on TV for most of its news<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

[among justices]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Supreme Court will soon wrap up its current term with major decisions expected on gay marriage, affirmative action, voting rights and other issues. No one knows how the court will rule, but here\u2019s a safe prediction: After the term, Chief Justice John Roberts will remain one of the most powerful \u2013 yet least visible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[106,332,78],"bylines":[989],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[520],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-16118","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-health-care","category-media-industry","category-supreme-court","bylines-carroll-doherty","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-politics"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":374,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2013\/05\/30\/chief-justice-john-the-obscure\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Chief Justice John the Obscure","description":"The Supreme Court will soon wrap up its current term with major decisions expected on gay marriage, affirmative action, voting rights and other issues. 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