Obama, McCain May Use ‘10th Justice’ to Influence Supreme Court
Fair Courts E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Author: Greg Stohr
Source: Bloomberg.com
Date: 10/01/2008
Article reports that the U.S. Supreme Court's new term "underscores the president's power to shape the court's rulings through his top courtroom lawyer, the solicitor general." Informally known as the ‘10th Justice', the solicitor general's "special relationship with the court," was highlighted in its most recent term, especially in pronounced business cases. Paul Clement, who stepped down as solicitor general in June, was "on the winning side in 20 of the 25 cases" his office filed an amicus brief in, and "six of the seven cases in which he opposed the position of the Chamber of Commerce." Tom Goldstein, a Supreme Court specialist at the law firm, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, said that "it just is impossible to overstate the influence of the solicitor general's office and their advocates and how much the justices look to them for guidance."