Cover blown off Chief Justice’s school visit

Perhaps the Chief Justice of the United States is more popular than we thought, at least in the greater Washington, DC area.

That’s what officials at one local high school found out when they tried to plan a hush-hush visit by Chief Justice John G. Roberts. But somehow word got out - throughout the school community and beyond - and when Roberts arrived to speak to students yesterday, a Washington Post reporter was among the audience members.

According to the WaPo report, Roberts was humble during his chat at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, downplaying his Chief Justice role and saying “just one vote” among nine, part of a “passive” Court that simply decides the cases it’s handed.

There were questions he declined to answer, like when a student asked what he thought the most important case of his tenure was so far, and when a teacher asked if the justices talk about the presidential campaign. He did say that the judiciary wasn’t political. “We’re removed from politics. People don’t vote for us. It’s our job sometimes to do things that are unpopular.”

He also said he tries to get justices who disagree on some issues to come together on others. “I try to keep an eye on the interpersonal relationships.”

John G. who?

 Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson probably have a tough time going incognito in most places in this country, yet it seems that Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., could wander the streets freely without being disturbed - even if his name were printed on his shirt.

That’s what a recent survey by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center revealed.

According to the survey, only one in seven Americans, about 15 percent, can name the Chief Justice of the United States. More than two-thirds, however, can name at least one judge from “American Idol.”

People polled in the survey didn’t seem to know much about how the Court works either. About 70 percent thought a Supreme Court decision could be appealed.

When asked about the effect of a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling, 14 percent thought the ruling would be sent to Congress for reconsideration. Seven percent thought the decision would be remanded to the lower courts, and 34 percent simply had no idea. Less than half knew such a decision became the law of the land.

To combat the lack of knowledge of the high court, the Annenberg Public Policy Center recently distributed books, DVDs and other materials about the Court to 27,000 schools around the country.