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Commentary: Rx for the Chief Justice: More Work, Less Play
Special to Law.com
August 06, 2007
Howard J. Bashman
Related: Bashman Archive
Amid medical experts' theorizing on whether the seizure experienced last week by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.'s constitutes proof that he has epilepsy, one fact stands out: The seizure occurred while he was on vacation. Similarly, according to published reports, the seizure that Roberts experienced in 1993 occurred while he was golfing with friends. If there is any lesson to be learned here, it is that the chief justice should avoid all leisure activities as being too much of a health risk.
Now, I have a tremendous amount of admiration for the chief justice, dating back even before his work as a D.C. Circuit judge, to when he was an appellate lawyer in private practice and also when he served in the solicitor general's office. And since joining the U.S. Supreme Court, he has performed masterfully. Not only does he appear, as many have observed, to be the sort of person that one might expect Central Casting to pick for the role of chief justice, but he has also done a wonderful job discussing the role of the Court in public, and his performance at oral arguments and in written opinions demonstrates a similarly high level of excellence.
When I finally had the pleasure of meeting Chief Justice Roberts for the first time at a social event in Washington, D.C. this year, his first comment to me was, "If you are here, who will be updating the blog in your absence?" His question demonstrated, at least to me, that he recognizes the value of hard work. Why was I out having fun when I could be working on my "How Appealing" blog, providing alerts about important new appellate court rulings and interesting press coverage of legal developments to the appellate community at large?
I have also been interested to hear from several journalists on the Supreme Court beat that Chief Justice Roberts has repeatedly been seen in his office with my appellate blog displayed on his personal computer monitor. I value each and every reader of my blog, so ensuring that the chief justice remains in the best of health for many years to come is certainly one of my top priorities, and it is partly in that spririt that I offer my advice here.
I don't doubt for one second that the chief justice already works quite hard. But for a certain subset of "Type A" personalities, being forced to relax, take vacations and engage in recreation can be even more stressful than continuing to toil away nonstop. And if I learned anything from reading the extensive news coverage generated by the chief justice's seizure, it was that stress can be a contributing factor in seizures.
However, suggesting that the chief justice avoid all recreation may seem like too harsh of a remedy. And even if the Supreme Court begins to accept more cases, so that critics can no longer validly malign the Court's relatively light workload of late, the justices will still have a three-month vacation to contend with every summer. Perhaps a more reasonable prescription would be for the chief justice to avoid particularly stressful forms of recreation.
For starters, I'd recommend he avoid the game of golf -- a game notoriously stressful for those of us who have competitive personalities but who aren't especially skilled at that particular sport. And from personal experience in recent days, I heartily recommend avoiding the stress of watching late-night telecasts of Major League Baseball games in the hopes of seeing famous records being tied or exceeded.
But what, you may be wondering, was so stressful on the chief justice's latest vacation? According to press reports, Roberts had just returned from running errands when he was stricken with a seizure dockside. Much like an afternoon spent playing golf or an evening spent watching a TV baseball game, a trip to idyllic Maine may initially sound delightful -- but those of you who have taken family trips away from familiar conveniences and the grocery store inventory relied upon by young children can probably attest to an alternate reality. In fact, a trip to the grocery store while on vacation can be just as stressful as a poor round of golf.
I could not be more pleased by the chief justice's rapid return to good health and by published reports indicating that there is only a remote likelihood of future seizures. But faced with a choice between taking medications that carry unpleasant side effects and spending more time at a job that he obviously loves, the chief justice would be well advised to avoid the stresses of recreation and spend more time at work.
Howard J. Bashman operates his own appellate litigation boutique in Willow Grove, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia. He can be reached via e-mail at hjb@hjbashman.com. You can access his appellate Web log at http://howappealing.law.com/.
