Talk:United States Solicitor General

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Contents

[edit] Certiorari

There's a contradiction with another article. In the Certiorari section of this article it says that appx 75 writs of certiorari are granted by the Supreme Court. In the certiorari it says 80 to 150. I don't know which is right, but generally a reference work (i.e. wikipedia) should agree with itself...

[edit] Table improvement

The table in the article, although containing all the necessary information, is not uniform: in its first half there are only the presidents' last names, while later on there are their full names. This situation not only doesn't produce a nice image but I do not like the practice of writing only last names. So I've changed it. Hope it's for the better. --Bill the Greek 07:34, 29 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Females

I cut:

There has never been a female Solicitor General, so it is unclear what sort of dress a woman holding the office would wear before the court.

While it's true that there's not yet been a female SG, It's my understanding that a deputy SG, when arguing before the Supremes, also wears the distinctive costome. Surely by now there's been a female deputy to argue. I wish I had time to check... Ellsworth 19:49, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

  • Also, speculation is best left on this discussion page, not on the article page.—Markles 20:28, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
  • If there's never been a female Solicitor General, all of the PC talk about "he or she" is really unneccessary. Mysticfeline 22:48, 6 May 2006 (UTC)mysticfeline
    "He or she" is only used twice in the article - hardly enough to be "clunky" or to interrupt the flow of the reading. Yes, it's unnecessary PC, but as it doesn't significantly detract from the article, it's best left alone. --Tim4christ17 23:17, 27 June 2006 (UTC)
still a stylistic issue, but if one were to cure all the style issues in wikipedia, there would be little time left for anything else BonniePrinceCharlie 10:50, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Why?

Why were removed the comments about the distinctive uniform when arguing before the court? 68.39.174.238 00:20, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

This article is of extreme importance to the U.S. government. it is sad that it is very short. Some good wikipedian should get in there and lengthen it to a more appropriate time. I especially want to see moredetails on how the office was founded.

[edit] Possible erroneous statement about qualifications

The Solicitor General is not required by law to hold a law degree, but it is required that they be "learned in the law." 28 U.S.C § 505; Act of June 22, 1870, ch. 150, § 2, 16 Stat. 162. For instance, Thomas D. Thacher did not complete his formal legal education, and was Solicitor General from 1930-1933 (see link within this article). Also, I noticed that Barbara D. Underwood is not listed by the Department of Justice website as ever having held the position of Solicitor General. Former SG Seth Waxman wrote an interesting historical note on the position. It is posted on the DOJ website which you can link to from the article.

Thanks for the article75.68.192.62 (talk) 07:03, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Significance

The last sentence of this section notes that "many" who have worked for the Solicitor General have been appointed to the SCt. This should at the very least be cited, but preferably explained more fully with names and position within the SG office. How many is many? Did the Justices work for the Office of the Solicitor General, or were they the Solicitor General? Were they deputies? Not a super big deal, but I think a bit more precision could only improve an already good article. Also, it might be mentioned that Chief Justice Roberts was a deputy SG from '89-'93. (http://www.supremecourtus.gov/about/biographiescurrent.pdf)--Thanks75.68.192.62 (talk) 01:57, 22 May 2008 (UTC)