United States Solicitor General
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 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.[1]
Current Solicitor General
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 June 9, 2011.
Biography of Donald Verrilli, Jr.
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 Barack Obama.[2]
Appointment
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.[3]
History of the office
The position of Solicitor General was created with the Act to Establish the Department of Justice on July 1, 1870.[4]
Responsibilities of the Solicitor General
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 amicus curiae briefs and may defend the constitutionality of an Act of Congress.[5]
According to 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.[5] [6] | ” |
Dual roles
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."[5]
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 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.)
See also
External links
- United States Department of Justice, Office of the Solicitor General
- 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
- ↑ U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Solicitor General, About the Office
- ↑ United States Department of Justice, Meet the Solicitor General: Official Biography
- ↑ NPC.edu, Presidential Powers
- ↑ United States Department of Justice, About the Office of Attorney General
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 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
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
