United States Solicitor General: Difference between revisions

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[[Image:US-DeptOfJustice-Seal.svg|140px|right|thumb|''Official seal of the United States Department of Justice'']]
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The '''United States Solicitor General''' argues on behalf of the United States Government in front of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] when the government is party to a case. According to the Office of the Solicitor General website, the United States Government is a party to approximately two-thirds of the cases decided on merits by the Supreme Court each year.  
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 [[United States Courts of Appeals|federal appellate courts]].  The U.S. government has involvement either as a party or as an [[Terminology: Knowing Your Latin|amicus curiae]] in approximately two-thirds of all cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.<ref name=office>[https://www.justice.gov/osg/about-office-1 ''U.S. Department of Justice'', "About the office," accessed June 24, 2016]</ref>


The Office also reviews lower court cases in which the Government was ruled against, in order to determine whether to appeal. The Office of the Solicitor General is part of the [[United States Department of Justice]].<ref>[http://www.justice.gov/osg/about-osg.html U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Solicitor General, About the Office]</ref>
==Responsibilities of the Solicitor General==
According to a description from the [[U.S. Department of Justice]] [https://www.justice.gov/osg/about-office-1 website],<ref name=office/>
 
{{quote|
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.
}}


==Current Solicitor General==
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."<ref name=history>[http://www.justice.gov/osg/aboutosg/historic-context.html ''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]</ref>
[[File:Donald Verrilli -DOJ Portrait-.jpg|left|110px]]
Donald Verrilli, Jr. is the current Solicitor General of the United States. He is the 45th person to serve in the office and was sworn in on [[c2011#June|June 9, 2011]].


===Biography of Donald Verrilli, Jr.===
===Dual roles===
Solicitor General Verrilli received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his [[J.D.]] from Columbia Law School. He spent several years as a partner with the firm ''Jenner & Block'', before serving as Associate Deputy Attorney General with the Department of Justice. Before becoming Solicitor General, he was Deputy Counsel to President {{BP|Barack Obama}}.<ref>[http://www.justice.gov/osg/meet-osg.html United States Department of Justice, Meet the Solicitor General: Official Biography]</ref>
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:<ref name=crs>[https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41299.pdf ''Congressional Research Service'', "From solicitor general to Supreme Court nominee: responsibilities, history, and the nomination of Elena Kagan," June 23, 2010]</ref>


==Appointment==
{{quote|
The Attorney General is appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. He or she serves at the pleasure of the President and can be removed by the President at any time.<ref>[http://nationalparalegal.edu/conlawcrimproc_public/federalism/presidentialpowers.asp NPC.edu, Presidential Powers]</ref>
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.
}}
 
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."<ref>Caplan, L. (1988). ''The Tenth Justice: The Solicitor General and the Rule of Law''. New York, N.Y.: Vintage Books.</ref>


==History of the office==
==History of the office==
The position of '''Solicitor General''' was created with the Act to Establish the Department of Justice on July 1, 1870.<ref>[http://www.justice.gov/ag/about-oag.html United States Department of Justice, About the Office of Attorney General]</ref>
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.


==Responsibilities of the Solicitor General==
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 [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]]: [[William Howard Taft]], [[Stanley Reed]], [[Robert H. Jackson|Robert Jackson]], [[Thurgood Marshall]], and [[Elena Kagan]].<ref name=crs/>
The two main responsibilities of the Office are to represent the federal government in the Supreme Court and to decide whether to appeal decisions the government has lost in the lower federal courts. In addition, the Office files [[Terminology: Knowing Your Latin|amicus curiae]] briefs and may defend the constitutionality of an Act of {{BP|Congress}}.<ref name=history>[http://www.justice.gov/osg/aboutosg/historic-context.html United States Department of Justice, "Presenting the Case of the United States As It Should Be": The Solicitor General in Historical Context, June 1, 1998]</ref>


According to Solicitor General Simon Sobeloff:
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.)
{{Quote|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.<ref name=history/> }}


===Dual roles===
<!--Note: Noel Francisco announced his resignation as solicitor general on June 17, 2020. His resignation {{Greener | start=07/03/2020 12:00am CST | before=is | after=was}} effective July 3, 2020.<ref>[https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6950310-NF.html ''U.S. Department of Justice'', "Resignation letter," accessed June 17, 2020]</ref>-->
The Solicitor General serves in the Executive Branch, at the pleasure of the President of the United States. He also represents the interests of the Supreme Court, adhering to [[stare decisis]] and defending the Court's jurisdiction. Because of the responsibility the Solicitor General has to the Supreme Court, the individual holding the office is sometimes referred to as "the tenth justice."<ref name=history/>
 
==History of the office==
The first Solicitor General of the United States was Benjamin H. Bristow, who served in the position from 1870 to 1872. Below is a table of all other Solicitor Generals, in addition to their years of service. (External links will direct you to official biographies from the United States Department of Justice website.)


{|class="wikitable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" border="1" style="background:none" style="width:80%;"
{|class="wikitable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" border="1" style="background:none" style="width:80%;"
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! style="background-color:#00008B; color: white;" | Years of service
! style="background-color:#00008B; color: white;" | Years of service
|-
|-
! [http://www.justice.gov/osg/aboutosg/osghistpage.php?id=46 Donald B. Verrilli, Jr.] !! 2011-Present
! [https://www.justice.gov/osg/staff-profile/solicitor-general-john-sauer D. John Sauer] !! 2025-present
|-
! [https://www.justice.gov/osg/bio/solicitor-general-elizabeth-b-prelogar Elizabeth B. Prelogar] !! 2021-2025
|-
! [https://www.justice.gov/osg/staff-profile/meet-acting-solicitor-general Jeffrey Wall] !! 2020-2021
|-
! [https://www.justice.gov/osg/staff-profile/meet-solicitor-general Noel Francisco] !! 2017-2020
|-
! [http://www.justice.gov/osg/aboutosg/osghistpage.php?id=46 Donald B. Verrilli, Jr.] !! 2011-2016
|-
|-
! [[Elena Kagan]] !! 2009-2010
! [[Elena Kagan]] !! 2009-2010
Line 82: Line 91:
! [http://www.justice.gov/osg/aboutosg/osghistpage.php?id=24 Francis Beverly Biddle] !! 1940-1941
! [http://www.justice.gov/osg/aboutosg/osghistpage.php?id=24 Francis Beverly Biddle] !! 1940-1941
|-
|-
! [http://www.justice.gov/osg/aboutosg/osghistpage.php?id=23 Robert Houghwout Jackson] !! 1938-1940
! [[Robert H. Jackson]] !! 1938-1940
|-
|-
! [http://www.justice.gov/osg/aboutosg/osghistpage.php?id=22 Stanley Reed] !! 1935-1938
! [[Stanley Reed]] !! 1935-1938
|-
|-
! [http://www.justice.gov/osg/aboutosg/osghistpage.php?id=21 James Crawford Biggs] !! 1933-1935
! [http://www.justice.gov/osg/aboutosg/osghistpage.php?id=21 James Crawford Biggs] !! 1933-1935
Line 90: Line 99:
! [http://www.justice.gov/osg/aboutosg/osghistpage.php?id=20 Thomas Day Thacher] !! 1930-1933
! [http://www.justice.gov/osg/aboutosg/osghistpage.php?id=20 Thomas Day Thacher] !! 1930-1933
|-
|-
! [http://www.justice.gov/osg/aboutosg/osghistpage.php?id=19 Charles Evan Hughes, Jr.] !! 1929-1930
! [http://www.justice.gov/osg/aboutosg/osghistpage.php?id=19 Charles Evans Hughes, Jr.] !! 1929-1930
|-
|-
! [http://www.justice.gov/osg/aboutosg/osghistpage.php?id=18 William DeWitt Mitchell] !! 1925-1929
! [http://www.justice.gov/osg/aboutosg/osghistpage.php?id=18 William DeWitt Mitchell] !! 1925-1929
Line 137: Line 146:
==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.justice.gov/osg/ United States Department of Justice, Office of the Solicitor General]
*[http://www.justice.gov/osg/ United States Department of Justice, Office of the Solicitor General]
*[http://www.justice.gov/osg/aboutosg/historic-context.html United States Department of Justice, "Presenting the Case of the United States As It Should Be": The Solicitor General in Historical Context, June 1, 1998]


==References==
==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Federal judiciary personnel]]
[[Category:Federal judiciary personnel]]
[[Category:Federal terms and definitions]]

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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

According to a description from the U.S. Department of Justice website,[1]

“

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]

”

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

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]

“

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]

”

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

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.)


Solicitor General Years of service
D. John Sauer 2025-present
Elizabeth B. Prelogar 2021-2025
Jeffrey Wall 2020-2021
Noel Francisco 2017-2020
Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. 2011-2016
Elena Kagan 2009-2010
Gregory G. Garre 2008-2009
Paul D. Clement 2005-2008
Theodore B. Olson 2001-2004
Seth P. Waxman 1997-2001
Walter Dellinger 1996-1997
Drew S. Days 1993-1996
Kenneth Starr 1989-1993
Charles Fried 1985-1989
Rex Lee 1981-1985
Wade Hampton McCree, Jr 1977-1981
Robert Heron Bork 1973-1977
Erwin Nathaniel Griswold 1967-1973
Thurgood Marshall 1965-1967
Archibald Cox 1961-1965
J. Lee Rankin 1956-1961
Simon E. Sobeloff 1954-1956
Walter J. Cummings 1952-1953
Philip B. Perlman 1947-1952
James Howard McGrath 1945-1946
Charles Fahy 1941-1945
Francis Beverly Biddle 1940-1941
Robert H. Jackson 1938-1940
Stanley Reed 1935-1938
James Crawford Biggs 1933-1935
Thomas Day Thacher 1930-1933
Charles Evans Hughes, Jr. 1929-1930
William DeWitt Mitchell 1925-1929
James Montgomery Beck 1921-1925
William L. Frierson 1920-1921
Alexander Campbell King 1918-1920
John William Davis 1913-1918
William Marshall Bullitt 1912-1913
Frederick W. Lehmann 1910-1912
Lloyd Wheaton Bowers 1909-1910
Henry M. Hoyt 1903-1909
John K. Richards 1897-1903
Holmes Conrad 1895-1897
Lawrence Maxwell, Jr. 1893-1895
Charles H. Aldrich 1892-1893
William Howard Taft 1889-1890
Orlow W. Chapman 1889-1890
George A. Jenks 1886-1889
John Goode 1885-1886
Samuel F. Phillips 1872-1885
Benjamin Bristow 1870-1872

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 U.S. Department of Justice, "About the office," accessed June 24, 2016
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  3. ↑ 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. ↑ 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
  5. ↑ Caplan, L. (1988). The Tenth Justice: The Solicitor General and the Rule of Law. New York, N.Y.: Vintage Books.
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