Storytime with Roberts

Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. doubly indulged the Federalist Society tonight -- first, by focusing his 20-minute lecture on the society’s muse, James Madison. And second, by boring into an aspect of Madison’s presidency that was sure to tickle this crowd: his choice of Supreme Court nominees.

“I figured the subject was a safe bet for this audience,” Roberts said, looking out on a crowded ballroom in the Mayflower Hotel.

The chief justice began by addressing the lecture’s namesake, the late Barbara K. Olson, who was a passenger aboard the American Airlines flight that crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11.

“Barbara was a good friend, and I consider it an honor to give a lecture named after her,” Roberts said.

His lecture, spun with humor, cast Thomas Jefferson a villain who deeply mistrusted Chief Justice John Marshall, and who pressed Madison to make nominations for political reasons. And Madison tried to, thrice. His first pick fell ill, and the latter two declined. The court couldn’t meet quorum that cycle as a result. Chastened, Madison ignored Jefferson’s advice and nominated Gabriel Duval and John Story in 1811.

Here, Roberts paused. They were nominated on November 23rd, and the Senate “confirmed them on the next business day.” (Laughter.)

“That’s right. The next day,” he said, feintly echoing remarks made by President Bush and Justice Clarence Thomas yesterday.

In a speech at the society’s 25th anniversary gala last night, Bush blasted Democrats for turning the confirmation process into a “search and destroy mission.” And Thomas, at an earlier event yesterday, said the system had devolved over time.

Returning to the story, Roberts’ described Duval in terms of his insignificance and Story, his brilliance. But the moral was clear: “[Madison] understood better than anyone that principle of divided powers required an independent judiciary."