Justice Roberts Speaks at 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Conference

By Tanya Roth, Esq. on June 30, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts spoke at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial panel over the past weekend, discussing the inner workings of the U.S. Supreme Court.

In his statements at the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference, he addressed some cutting edge issues involving the day-to-day affairs of SCOTUS, including the use of social media by the Supreme Court justices and judicial clerks.

Justice Roberts mentioned that he encourages Supreme Court clerks not to tweet, reports Huffington Post, fearing that they may unintentionally reveal confidences through posting status updates.

The Fourth Circuit judicial conference took place in White Sulphur Springs in West Virginia over the weekend. It was covered on CSPAN.

During the conference, Justice Roberts also discussed the use of cameras in the United States Supreme Court, where he said that he worried about the impact on lawyers and judges on the use of cameras in the Supreme Court.

The Chief Justice said that he did not have a Facebook account and he didn’t believe that any of his nine colleagues on the bench had a Facebook account.

Justice Stephen Breyer, however, has been known to have a Twitter account, which he says he formed in order to follow the Iranian revolution several years back — an account which he claims he does not know how to deactivate.

Said Justice Breyer, in a statement before a House Appropriations subcommittee:

“Judges wear black robes so that they will resist the temptation to publicize themselves, because we really speak for the law and that is to be anonymous. … I wouldn’t want followers on the Tweeter [sic] or people going to the Facebook page.”

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