Law School Honors Former Solicitor General
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Published on Wednesday, 15 April 2009 00:41
Ted Olson has appeared before the Supreme Court more than 50 times, and "no organ of government has a more immediate, profound and lasting effect on American life" than the Court does, he told more than 400 people at a talk in Naples Tuesday.
Many of those court appearances occurred when Mr. Olson served as U.S. Solicitor General from 2001-2004. He appeared in Naples at a talk sponsored by the Ave Maria School of Law, which also presented him with its first medal of honor for national excellence. "It is really remarkable what Ave Maria has done so far," Mr. Olson said, adding that his friend Judge Robert Bork, who has served on the school's faculty, speaks of the school "with affection, enthusiasm and excitement."
Mr. Olson spoke about the office of the solicitor general, the history and workings of the Supreme Court, and discussed some of the court's more notable cases in the last few years. Although he makes no secret of his conservative political leanings, he treaded carefully in discussing Supreme Court cases and steered clear of any criticism of any of the sitting justices or their decisions.
There is great respect for the decisions of the Court, he said, even though people may disagree with them. Recalling the court's decision on the Bush-Gore election, on which he argued for the winning side, he noted that after "five weeks of concentrated attention throughout the world," when the decision came down the "controversy simply melted away." Afterward, he was in Europe where he said people were "surprised how people respected the outcome."
The work of the Supreme Court is far more concentrated, he said, than it once was. In 1930, he noted, there were 1,500 petitions of which the Court heard 235. Two years ago, there were 9,000 petitions of which the Court heard just 67.
The volume of court cases in general came up in the question and answer session afterward Mr. Olson was asked about tort reform and limiting frivilous lawsuits. Some progress has been made, he said, but "with this president and this congress, we're going to go back the other way," in part because of the strong support he said trial lawyers gave to President Obama and other Democratic candidates.
Mr. Olson remains a high-profile lawyer who is highly sought after. But the best job he's ever had was Solicitor General -- "for a lawyer, it's the best job in the world, bar none."
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