[Mb-civic] A Narrow Path To the Court - William LaPiana - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

A Narrow Path To the Court

By William P. LaPiana

Friday, July 22, 2005; Page A23

Some 30 years ago I was a pre-law adviser at Leverett House in Harvard 
College when John Roberts was an undergraduate. I hasten to add that I 
do not remember ever giving him any advice about going to law school. 
The occasion of his nomination to the Supreme Court is my excuse not for 
personal reminiscence but rather for some thoughts about the American 
legal profession at the beginning of the 21st century and about the 
possible future of the Supreme Court.

John Roberts is a child of the baby boom, both in age and in biography. 
He has come within reach of filling one of the most important roles in 
American life by combining a willingness to work, a good deal of 
ability, no doubt some good fortune and what surely were outstanding 
scores on standardized tests.

<>To society at large, Roberts is an example of what perhaps most 
Americans identify as our meritocratic society. His is not a story of 
"rags to riches," of course, but one of outstanding performance at an 
elite educational institution and a rise from the middle class to the 
top of one of the two professions -- law and medicine -- that dominate 
the ambitions of our generation.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/21/AR2005072102188.html?nav=hcmodule 

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