United States Solicitor General
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The office of the United States Solicitor General is an agency of the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with litigating the interests of the U.S. government before the Supreme Court of the United States and in all federal appellate courts. The U.S. government has involvement either as a party or as an amicus curiae in approximately two-thirds of all cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.[1]
Responsibilities of the Solicitor General[edit]
According to a description from the U.S. Department of Justice website,[1]
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The Solicitor General determines the cases in which Supreme Court review will be sought by the government and the positions the government will take before the Court. The Office's staff attorneys, Deputy Solicitors General and Assistants to the Solicitor General, participate in preparing the petitions, briefs, and other papers filed by the government in the Supreme Court. The Solicitor General conducts the oral arguments before the Supreme Court. Those cases not argued by the Solicitor General personally are assigned either to an Assistant to the Solicitor General or to another government attorney. The vast majority of government cases are argued by the Solicitor General or one of the office attorneys. Another responsibility of the Office is to review all cases decided adversely to the government in the lower courts to determine whether they should be appealed and, if so, what position should be taken. Moreover, the Solicitor General determines whether the government will participate as an amicus curiae, or intervene, in cases in any appellate court. [2] |
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According to former solicitor general Simon Sobeloff, "The Solicitor General is not a neutral, he is an advocate; but an advocate for a client whose business is not merely to prevail in the instant case. My client's chief business is not to achieve victory, but to establish justice."[3]
Dual roles[edit]
Though the solicitor general is a functionary of the executive branch, the office aids the Supreme Court in its exercise of its judicial function. A 2010 report of the Congressional Research Service explains this dual role the office plays in our system of government:[4]
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Through repeated opportunities to argue before the Court, some suggest that the office of the Solicitor General has built a "special relationship" with the Supreme Court based on trust and interdependence established over multiple and continuing interactions. The Court relies on the Solicitor General to perform a "gatekeeping" function by recommending for review only the most meritorious of the government’s cases and providing the highest quality arguments for the Court’s consideration. Through these actions, the Solicitor General seeks to convince the Supreme Court that the government’s position is the correct one. Although scholars disagree on the exact nature of the office’s influence, most of the time, the Solicitor General is successful in this task. [2] |
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Due to the repeated interactions and responsibilities the solicitor general has with and towards the Supreme Court, the position has been referred to by Lincoln Caplan, among others, as "the Tenth Justice."[5]
History of the office[edit]
The position of solicitor general was created with the Act (16 Stat. 162) to establish the U.S. Department of Justice on June 22, 1870. Under 28 U.S.C. § 505, the solicitor general is required by statute to be "learned in the law", the only public official in the federal government upon whom such a requirement is demanded.
The first solicitor general of the United States was Benjamin H. Bristow, who served in the position from 1870 to 1872. Five solicitors general have gone on to serve as justices of the U.S. Supreme Court: William Howard Taft, Stanley Reed, Robert Jackson, Thurgood Marshall, and Elena Kagan.[4]
Below is a table of all other solicitors general, in addition to their years of service. (External links will direct you to official biographies from the United States Department of Justice website.)
Note: Noel Francisco announced his resignation as solicitor general on June 17, 2020. His resignation was effective July 3, 2020.[6]
See also[edit]
External links[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 U.S. Department of Justice, "About the office," accessed June 24, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ U.S. Department of Justice, "Presenting the Case of the United States As It Should Be: The Solicitor General in Historical Context," June 1, 1998
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Congressional Research Service, "From solicitor general to Supreme Court nominee: responsibilities, history, and the nomination of Elena Kagan," June 23, 2010
- ↑ Caplan, L. (1988). The Tenth Justice: The Solicitor General and the Rule of Law. New York, N.Y.: Vintage Books.
- ↑ U.S. Department of Justice, "Resignation letter," accessed June 17, 2020
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