[Mb-civic] The Job of a Lifetime? You Got That Right - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

The Job of a Lifetime? You Got That Right.

By Marcia Davis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 30, 2005; Page C01

John G. Roberts Jr. is breathing the kind of air that the rest of us can 
only dream about, the air of kings and queens and one-name celebrities 
like Oprah.

He's got Mick Jagger juice now, baby.

They're the folks who possess that rarest of powers -- they've got a job 
for life. Roberts is right up there with the pope in terms of job 
security. That is, as long as he lives up to the Constitution's demand 
of "good behavior."

After being sworn in yesterday afternoon as the nation's 17th chief 
justice, Roberts said he planned to show up at the office today. But if 
he doesn't, there's not a thing anybody can do about it. The media might 
fuss and others might grumble, but that would be it. It would take an 
act of Congress to fire the guy.

If he wants to take a break every Thursday morning to play tennis -- as 
his mentor and predecessor, the late William Rehnquist, did -- no 
problem. The only clock he's got to punch for the rest of his life is 
his own. And, as so many senators liked to point out during the recent 
confirmation hearings, Roberts is just 50, the youngest chief justice in 
two centuries. If he does play tennis weekly -- or golf, or whatever -- 
and eats well, there's a good chance that Roberts will outlast at least 
four presidents.

Mark Tushnet is in the same orbit -- kinda. He's a tenured law professor 
at Georgetown and life, he'll gladly tell you, isn't bad. He's been 
tenured since about 1977. "It's been so long, I can't remember exactly," 
he says. He likes the fact that just the other day he could leave the 
office early to see his new grandchild. And it's a nice life when you 
can take the afternoon off and go to a baseball game and no one asks any 
questions. Not that he would do that, of course.

(And his colleagues at the American Association of University Professors 
will gladly point out that although tenure may look like a lifetime 
appointment, there are ways that you could end up out of a job.)

Still, the Supreme Court is another kind of universe. "If there were an 
ad for the job, it would be, 'Inside work, no heavy lifting,' " Tushnet 
says. "The justices hear only the cases they want to hear, write only 
what they want to write. It's great."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/29/AR2005092902402.html?nav=hcmodule
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