A Profile of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts

A Profile of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts John Roberts is the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and a George W. Bush appointee. He controversially cast the deciding vote upholding Obamacare. Conservative Credentials: Just after passing the bar exam, a young John Glover Roberts went to work clerking for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquest, a position any aspiring Chief Justice likely would covet. Roberts then went to work for US Attorney General William French during the Reagan administration. Both as an attorney, and as a judge on the US Circuit Court or US Supreme Court, Roberts has reflected his conservative, traditional principles in his rulings. Roberts doesnt make many speeches or write many articles. He prefers to speak through his court opinions. Early Life: Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. was born in Buffalo, NY on Jan. 27, 1955 to John G. Jack, Sr. and Rosemary Podrasky Roberts. His father was an electrical engineer and executive for Bethlehem Steel in Johnstown, Pa. Roberts was brought up by his parents as a Roman Catholic. His penetrating intellect manifested itself as early as elementary school. In the fourth grade, he and his family moved to Long Beach, Ind., where he attended private schools. Despite his intelligence, he was a natural leader and was named captain of his high school football team even though he wasnt its most athletic member. Formative Years: Roberts originally intended to be a history professor, and chose Harvard over Amherst during his senior year in high school. Perhaps because of his Catholic upbringing, Roberts was identified early by liberal classmates and teachers as a conservative, although outwardly he expressed no particularly profound interest in politics. After graduating Harvard College in 1976, he entered Harvard Law School and was well known for not only his intelligence, but his even-temperament, as well. As in high school and college, he was identified as a conservative, but was not politically active. Early Career: After graduating summa cum laude from Harvard and Harvard Law School, Roberts first position was as clerk for Second Circuit Appeals Court Judge Henry Friendly in New York. Friendly was well-known for his disdain for the liberal activism of the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren. Next, Roberts worked for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who at the time was an associate justice. Legal analysts believe this is where Roberts honed his conservative approach to law, including his skepticism of federal power over the states and his support of executive-branch power in foreign and military affairs. Work With the White House Counsel Under Reagan: Roberts worked briefly for the White House counsel under President Ronald Reagan, where he established himself as a political pragmatist by tackling some of the administrations toughest issues. On the issue of busing, he opposed conservative legal scholar Theodore B. Olson, the assistant attorney general at the time, who argued that Congress could not prohibit the practice. Through memos, Roberts matched legal wits with Congress members and retired Supreme Court justices alike on issues ranging from the separation of powers to housing discrimination and tax law. Justice Department: Before his stint as an associate White House counsel, Roberts worked at the Justice Department under Attorney General William French Smith. In 1986, after his stint as associate counsel, he took a position in the private sector. He returned to the Justice Department in 1989, however, serving as principal deputy solicitor general under President George H.W. Bush. During his confirmation hearings, Roberts drew fire for filing a brief to allow a clergyman to deliver an address to a junior high school graduation, thus blurring the separation of church and state. The Supreme Court voted against the request, 5-4. Path to Judicial Appointment: Roberts returned to private practice at the end of Bushs first term in 1992. He represented a large range of clients including international automakers, the NCAA and the National Mining Company to name just a few. In 2001, President George W. Bush nominated Roberts to serve as judge of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. Democrats held up his nomination until losing control of Congress in 2003. On the bench, Roberts participated in more than 300 rulings and wrote majority opinions for the court in 40 of those cases. Circuit Court: Although he issued and joined many controversial decisions, Roberts most notorious case in the DC court of appeals was Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, in which Osama bin Ladens alleged chauffeur and bodyguard challenged his status as an enemy combatant who could be tried by a military commission. Roberts joined a decision reversing a lower court ruling and sided with the Bush administration, saying that such military commissions are legal under a congressional resolution of Sept. 18, 2001, which authorized the president to use all necessary and appropriate force against al Queda and its backers. Supreme Court Nomination Confirmation: In July 2005, President Bush announced Roberts as his pick to fill the vacancy being created by retiring Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day OConnor. However, after the death of Chief Justice Rehnquist, Bush withdrew Roberts nomination on Sept. 6 and re-nominated him to be chief justice. His nomination was confirmed by the Senate on Sept. 29 by a vote of 78-22. Most of the questions Roberts fielded during his confirmation hearings were about his Catholic faith. Roberts stated unequivocally that my faith and my religious beliefs do not play a role in my judging. Personal Life: Roberts married his wife, Jane Sullivan Roberts, in 1996, when they were both in their 40s. After several failed attempts at having children of their own, they adopted two children, Josephine and John.Mrs. Roberts is a lawyer with a private practice firm, and shares her husbands Catholic faith. Friends of the couple say they are deeply religious ... but dont wear it on their sleeves at all.The Robertses attend church in Bethesda, Md. and frequently visit the College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Mass., where Jane Roberts is a graduate former trustee (along with Justice Clarence Thomas).

The History of Satellites - Sputnik I

The History of Satellites - Sputnik I History was made on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched  Sputnik I. The worlds first artificial satellite was about the size of a basketball and weighed only 183 pounds. It took about 98 minutes for Sputnik I to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. The launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments and marked the beginning of the space race between the U.S.and the U.S.S.R. The International Geophysical Year In 1952, the International Council of Scientific Unions decided to establish the International Geophysical Year. It wasnt actually a year but rather more like 18 months, set from July 1, ​1957, to December 31, 1958. Scientists knew that cycles of solar activity would be at a high point at this time. The Council adopted a resolution in October 1954 calling for artificial satellites to be launched during the IGY to map the earths surface. The U.S. Contribution   The White House announced plans to launch an Earth-orbiting satellite for the IGY in July 1955. The government solicited proposals from various research agencies to undertake development of this satellite. NSC 5520, the  Draft Statement of Policy on U.S. Scientific Satellite Program, recommended both the creation of a scientific satellite program as well as the development of satellites for reconnaissance purposes. The National Security Council approved the IGY satellite on May 26, 1955, based on NSC 5520. This event  was announced to the public on July 28 during an oral briefing at the White House. The  governments statement emphasized that the satellite program was intended to be the U.S. contribution to the IGY and that the scientific data was to benefit scientists of all nations. The Naval Research Laboratorys Vanguard proposal for a satellite was chosen in September 1955 to represent the U.S. during the IGY.   Then Came Sputnik I   The Sputnik launch changed everything. As a technical achievement, it caught the worlds attention and the American public off guard. Its size was more impressive than Vanguards intended 3.5-pound payload. The public reacted with fear that the Soviets ability to launch such a satellite would translate to the ability to launch ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear weapons from Europe to the U.S. Then the Soviets struck again: Sputnik II was launched on November 3, carrying a much heavier payload and a dog named Laika. The U.S. Response The U.S. Defense Department responded to the political and public  furor over the Sputnik satellites by approving funding for another U.S. satellite project. As a simultaneous alternative to Vanguard, Wernher von Braun and his Army Redstone Arsenal team began work on a satellite that would become known as Explorer. The tide of the space race changed on January 31,  1958, when the U.S. successfully launched Satellite 1958 Alpha, familiarly known as Explorer I. This satellite carried a small scientific payload that eventually discovered magnetic radiation belts around the Earth. These belts were named after principal investigator James Van Allen. The Explorer program continued as a successful ongoing series of lightweight, scientifically-useful spacecraft.   The Creation of NASA The Sputnik launch also led to the creation of NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, commonly called the Space Act,† in July 1958,  and the Space Act created NASA effective October 1, 1958. It joined NACA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, with other government agencies. NASA went on to do  pioneering work in space applications, such as communications satellites, in the 1960s. The Echo, Telstar, Relay, and Syncom satellites were built by NASA or by the private sector based on significant NASA advances. In the 1970s, NASAs Landsat program literally changed the way we look at our planet. The first three Landsat satellites were launched in 1972, 1975, and 1978. They transmitted complex data streams back to earth that could be converted into colored pictures. Landsat data has been used in a variety of practical commercial applications since then, including crop management and fault line detection. It tracks many kinds of weather, such as droughts, forest fires, and ice floes. NASA has also been involved in a variety of other earth science efforts as well, such as the Earth Observation System of spacecraft and data processing that has yielded important scientific results in tropical deforestation, global warming, and climate change.