![Osg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Osg.gif)
The solicitor general of the United States is the fourth-highest-ranking official in the
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
.
Elizabeth Prelogar
Elizabeth Barchas Prelogar (born 1980) is an American lawyer who has served as solicitor general of the United States since October 2021. She served as acting solicitor general from January 20, at the start of the Biden administration, until Pres ...
has been serving in the role since October 28, 2021.
The United States solicitor general represents the
federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...
before the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
. The solicitor general determines the legal position that the United States will take in the Supreme Court. In addition to supervising and conducting cases in which the government is a party, the Office of the Solicitor General also files ''
amicus curiae
An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The decision on ...
'' briefs in cases in which the federal government has a significant interest.
The Office of the Solicitor General argues on behalf of the government in virtually every case in which the United States is a party, and also argues in most of the cases in which the government has filed an ''amicus'' brief. In the federal courts of appeal, the Office of the Solicitor General reviews cases decided against the United States and determines whether the government will seek review in the Supreme Court. The solicitor general's office also reviews cases decided against the United States in the federal district courts and approves every case in which the government files an appeal.
The solicitor general of the United States is subservient to, and directly reports to, the
United States Attorney General
The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
.
Composition of the Office of the Solicitor General
The solicitor general is assisted by four ''deputy solicitors general'' and seventeen ''assistants to the solicitor general''. Three of the deputies are career attorneys in the
Department of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...
. The remaining deputy is known as the "principal deputy," sometimes called the "political deputy" and, like the Solicitor General, typically leaves at the end of an administration.
The solicitor general or one of the deputies typically argues the most important cases in the Supreme Court. Other cases may be argued by one of the assistants or another government attorney. The solicitors general tend to argue six to nine cases per Supreme Court term, while deputies argue four to five cases and assistants each argue two to three cases.
Significance
The solicitor general, who has offices in the
Supreme Court Building as well as the
Department of Justice Headquarters, has been called the "tenth justice" as a result of the close relationship between the justices and the solicitor general (and their respective staffs of clerks and deputies). As the most frequent advocate before the Court, the Office of the Solicitor General generally argues dozens of times each term. Furthermore, when the Office of the Solicitor General endorses a petition for ''
certiorari
In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...
'', review is frequently granted, which is remarkable given that only 75 to 125 of the over 7,500 petitions submitted each term are granted review by the Court.
Other than the justices themselves, the solicitor general is among the most influential and knowledgeable members of the legal community with regard to
Supreme Court litigation. Six solicitors general have later served on the Supreme Court:
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
(who served as the 27th
president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
before becoming
Chief Justice of the United States),
Stanley Forman Reed
Stanley Forman Reed (December 31, 1884 – April 2, 1980) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1938 to 1957. He also served as U.S. Solicitor General from 1935 to 1938.
Born in Mas ...
,
Robert H. Jackson
Robert Houghwout Jackson (February 13, 1892 – October 9, 1954) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Unit ...
,
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...
, and
Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan ( ; born April 28, 1960) is an American lawyer who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 10, 2010, and has served since August 7, 2010. Kagan ...
. Some who have had other positions in the Office of the Solicitor General have also later been appointed to the Supreme Court. For example, Chief Justice
John Roberts
John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...
was the principal deputy solicitor general during the George H. W. Bush administration and Associate Justice
Samuel Alito
Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. ( ; born April 1, 1950) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on October 31, 2005, and has served ...
was an assistant to the solicitor general. The last former solicitor general to be successfully nominated to the court was Justice Elena Kagan. Only one former solicitor general has been nominated to the Supreme Court unsuccessfully, that being
Robert Bork
Robert Heron Bork (March 1, 1927 – December 19, 2012) was an American jurist who served as the solicitor general of the United States from 1973 to 1977. A professor at Yale Law School by occupation, he later served as a judge on the U.S. Court ...
; however, no sitting solicitor general has ever been denied such an appointment. Eight other solicitors general have served on the United States Courts of Appeals.
Within the Justice Department, the solicitor general exerts significant influence on all appeals brought by the department. The solicitor general is the only U.S. officer that is statutorily required to be "learned in law." Whenever the DOJ wins at the trial stage and the losing party appeals, the concerned division of the DOJ responds automatically and proceeds to defend the ruling in the appellate process. However, if the DOJ is the losing party at the trial stage, an appeal can only be brought with the permission of the solicitor general. For example, should the tort division lose a jury trial in federal district court, that ruling cannot be appealed by the Appellate Office without the approval of the solicitor general.
Call for the views of the solicitor general
When determining whether to grant ''
certiorari
In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...
'' in a case where the federal government is not a party, the Court will sometimes request that the solicitor general weigh in, a procedure referred to as a "call for the views of the solicitor general" (CVSG). In response to a CVSG, the solicitor general will file a brief opining on whether the petition should be granted and, usually, which party should prevail.
Although the CVSG is technically an invitation, the solicitor general's office treats it as tantamount to a command.
[ ]Philip Elman
Philip Elman (March 14, 1918 – November 30, 1999) was an American lawyer at the United States Department of Justice and former member of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Elman is best known for writing the government's brief in ''Brown v. B ...
, who served as an attorney in the solicitor general's office and who was primary author of the federal government's brief in ''Brown v. Board of Education
''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregat ...
'', wrote, "When the Supreme Court invites you, that's the equivalent of a royal command. An invitation from the Supreme Court just can't be rejected."
The Court typically issues a CVSG where the justices believe that the petition is important, and may be considering granting it, but would like a legal opinion before making that decision.[ Examples include where there is a federal interest involved in the case; where there is a new issue for which there is no established precedent; or where an issue has evolved, perhaps becoming more complex or affecting other issues.][
Although there is usually no deadline by which the solicitor general is required to respond to a CVSG, briefs in response to the CVSG are generally filed at three times of the year: late May, allowing the petition to be considered before the Court breaks for summer recess; August, allowing the petition to go on the "summer list", to be considered at the end of recess; and December, allowing the case to be argued in the remainder of the current Supreme Court term.][
]
Traditions
Several traditions have developed since the Office of Solicitor General was established in 1870. Most obviously to spectators at oral argument before the Court, the solicitor general and his or her deputies traditionally appear in formal morning coat
A tailcoat is a knee-length coat (clothing), coat characterised by a rear section of the skirt, known as the ''tails'', with the front of the skirt cut away.
The tailcoat shares its historical origins in clothes cut for convenient horse riding i ...
s, although Elena Kagan, the first woman to hold the office on other than an acting
Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode.
Acting involves a broad r ...
basis, elected to forgo the practice.
During oral argument, the members of the Court often address the solicitor general as "General." Some legal commentators have disagreed with this usage, saying that "general" is a postpositive adjective
A postpositive adjective or postnominal adjective is an adjective that is placed after the noun or pronoun that it modifies, as in noun phrases such as ''attorney general'', ''queen regnant'', or ''all matters financial''. This contrasts with prepo ...
(which modifies the noun "solicitor"), and is not a title itself.
Another tradition is the practice of confession of error
Confession of error is a legal practice whereby the Solicitor General of the United States in his or her role representing the federal government before the Supreme Court of the United States admits a lower court incorrectly decided a case and it i ...
. If the government prevailed in the lower court but the solicitor general disagrees with the result, the solicitor general may confess error, after which the Supreme Court will vacate the lower court's ruling and send the case back for reconsideration.
List of solicitors general
: Some terms overlap because the incumbent remained in office after a successor was named. The office has been vacant at times while awaiting the nomination or confirmation of a successor.
List of notable principal deputy solicitors general
*Paul M. Bator
Paul Michael Bator (June 2, 1929 – February 24, 1989) was an American legal academic, Supreme Court advocate and expert on United States federal courts. In addition to teaching for almost 30 years at Harvard Law School and the University of Ch ...
– 1982 to 1983
*Donald B. Ayer
Donald Belton Ayer (born April 30, 1949) is an American attorney who served as the 24th United States Deputy Attorney General from 1989 to 1990, under President George H. W. Bush.
Education and career
Ayer graduated from Stanford University ...
– June 1986 to December 1988
*John Roberts
John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...
– October 1989–January 1993 (became Chief Justice)
* Paul Bender – 1993–1996
*Seth Waxman
Seth Paul Waxman (born November 28, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the 41st Solicitor General of the United States from 1997 to 2001. He then returned to private legal practice, and serves as the co-chairman of the appellate and Supr ...
– 1996–1997 (became Solicitor General)
*Barbara Underwood
Barbara Dale Underwood (born August 16, 1944) is an American lawyer currently serving as the Solicitor General of New York. She was first appointed to the position in January 2007 by Andrew Cuomo, who was then serving as the state's Attorney Gen ...
– March 1997 to January 2001 (acting SG from January to June 2001)
*Paul D. Clement
Paul Drew Clement (born June 24, 1966) is an American lawyer who served as United States Solicitor General, U.S. Solicitor General from 2004 to 2008 and is known for his advocacy before the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Court ...
– 2001 to July 2004 (became acting SG)
*Gregory G. Garre
Gregory G. Garre (born November 1, 1964) is an American lawyer who served as the 44th United States Solicitor General from June 19, 2008, to January 16, 2009. He is currently a partner at Latham & Watkins, a private law firm.
Life and education ...
– September 2005-June 19, 2008 (became acting SG)
*Neal Katyal
Neal Kumar Katyal (born March 12, 1970) is an American lawyer and academic. He is a partner at Hogan Lovells and the Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of National Security Law at Georgetown University Law Center. During the Obama administrati ...
– January 2009 to May 2010 (became acting SG)
*Leondra Kruger
Leondra Reid Kruger (born July 28, 1976) is an American judge who is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California. A native of South Pasadena, California, she graduated from Harvard College and Yale Law School. Kruger then clerked fo ...
– acting principal deputy SG named in August 2010
*Sri Srinivasan
Padmanabhan Srikanth "Sri" Srinivasan (; born February 23, 1967) is an Indian-born American lawyer and jurist serving as the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Before he was a circuit judge, Srinivas ...
– August 2011 to May 2013 (became Chief Judge of D.C. Circuit)
* Ian Gershengorn – September 2013 to June 2016 (became Acting SG)
*Noel Francisco
Noel John Francisco (born August 21, 1969) is an American lawyer who served as Solicitor General of the United States from 2017 to 2020. He was the first Asian Americans, Asian American confirmed by the United States Senate to hold the position.
...
– January 20, 2017 to March 10, 2017 (became SG)
*Jeff Wall
Jeffrey Wall, Order of Canada, OC, Royal Society of Canada, RSA (born September 29, 1946) is a Canadian artist best known for his large-scale back-lit Cibachrome photographs and art history writing. Early in his career, he helped define the Van ...
– March 10, 2017 to January 20, 2021 (became Acting SG)
*Elizabeth Prelogar
Elizabeth Barchas Prelogar (born 1980) is an American lawyer who has served as solicitor general of the United States since October 2021. She served as acting solicitor general from January 20, at the start of the Biden administration, until Pres ...
– January 20, 2021 - October 28, 2021 (became SG)
*Brian Fletcher
Brian Fletcher (18 May 1947 – 11 January 2017) was an English jockey known for riding the horse Red Rum to win the Grand National in 1973 and 1974 and for second place in 1975. He first won the Grand National at the age of 20, in 1968 ridi ...
- October 28, 2021 - Present (became Acting SG)
Notes
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Solicitor General Of The United States
United States Solicitors General
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...
Supreme Court of the United States people
United States Department of Justice officials