Chief Justice Roberts Stops in at DC Judicial Conference

Chief Justice John Roberts won't be "going to Disneyland" after the close of this historic Supreme Court session.

At least that's what he told Chief Judge David B. Sentelle of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, reports The Associated Press. Judge Sentelle asked Justice Roberts what he planned to do now that the court had adjourned for the summer. The question came at a conference hosted by the Judicial Council of the District of Columbia Circuit.

Three hundred judges were in attendance at the conference, entitled "Science and the Law." The four day conference is being held this week at a Pennsylvania resort just 50 miles outside Pittsburgh.

Justice Roberts appeared in an impromptu 35-minute session where he answered questions from Judge Sentelle and Chief Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for D.C. Both judges stayed away from asking Justice Roberts direct questions about the recent Obamacare decision.

That didn't stop other attendees to ask Justice Roberts about the monumental decision. Even then, the question attempted to evade the obvious, by asking how "one recent opinion" might fit into the court's legacy 50 years down the line.

Justice Roberts addressed the question diplomatically by saying that the Supreme Court did its job of protecting equal justice under the law according to the Constitution.

Other topics at the conference included how social sciences and psychology affect the perception of courts by the public and how courts make decisions when such sciences come into play.

Of course, in a discussion on social sciences and psychology, you're bound to have questions on social media activity and the courts, questions which Justice Roberts gladly addressed, saying that use of social media by Supreme Court law clerks hasn't been a huge problem.

Justice Roberts plans to be teaching classes for two weeks in Malta over the summer, now that the Supreme Court is on break.

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• Search D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Cases (FindLaw CaseLaw)
• D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals (US Courts)