Did you know John Roberts is also chief justice of the NSA’s surveillance state?

Re:Did you know John Roberts is also chief justice of the NS... by smsm42 on Friday July 05, 2013 @02:28PM (#5996102)

>>> He can and does appoint judges from his own party and ideology

As opposed to the president who never appoints Supreme Court judges from his own party and ideology, right? And unlike FISA judges, those judges have vast powers. If you're worried about politics in court, you're very late to the game - SC judges were appointed politically for a long time.

>>> So, he has been given a lot of power.

Yes, Supreme Court Chief Justice has a lot of power. Is it really news to anybody? He's the head of the one of the independent branches of the government, of course he has a lot of power.

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Re:Did you know John Roberts is also chief justice of the NS... by wavefunction on Friday July 05, 2013 @02:38PM (#5996143)

The President merely nominates, it's Congress that appoints via confirmation.

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Re:Did you know John Roberts is also chief justice of the NS... by smsm42 on Friday July 05, 2013 @02:53PM (#5996216)

It's nowhere near "merely". The Congress traditionally has a lot of deference to Presidential nomination and cases where nominated judge is not confirmed are very rare and are considered exceptional.

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Re:Did you know John Roberts is also chief justice of the NS... by rayiner on Friday July 05, 2013 @05:29PM (#5996835)

The President appoints, Congress merely confirms or vetos the confirmation.

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