OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR GENERAL

Introduction
Books - General
Books - On Individual Solicitors General
Periodicals
List of Solicitors General

INTRODUCTION

The Office of the Solicitor General was created by the Act to Establish the Department of Justice, ch. 150, 16 Stat. 162 (1870). The Act provided for "an officer learned in the law, to assist the Attorney-General in the performance of his duties, to be called the solicitor-general." The Act provided that both the Attorney General and the Solicitor General had the duty "to conduct and argue" cases coming by appeal to the Supreme Court "before that court as in other cases in which the United States is interested." Originally second in command to the Attorney General, the Solicitor General's position in the Department has changed with the addition of the Deputy Attorneys General and the formation of the Divisions. The Solicitor General is appointed by the President and is subject to confirmation by the Senate.

The Attorney General historically has given the Solicitor General the primary responsibility for presenting the Government's case to the Supreme Court. In discharging that function, the Solicitor General has had a great degree of independence. Except for rare authority exercised by the Attorney General, the Solicitor General has had sole discretion to decide which Government cases involve issues important enough to justify appeal to the Supreme Court and to make the final determination whether the Government's case is good enough to win there. The Office of the Solicitor General also files amicus curiae briefs and extraordinary writs with the Supreme Court. In the course of the work, the Solicitor General's Office works with the Divisions of the Department of Justice, the United States Attorneys' Offices, and other government agencies.

 

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BOOKS

GENERAL

Caplan, Lincoln. The Tenth Justice: The Solicitor General and the Rule of Law. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987.

Clayton, Cornell W. The Politics of Justice: The Attorney General and the Making of Legal Policy. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1992.

Clayton, Cornell W. Government Lawyers: The Federal Legal Bureaucracy and Presidential Politics. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 1995.

Cummings, Homer & McFarland, Carl. Federal Justice: Chapters in the History of Justice and the Federal Executive. New York, NY: Macmillan Co., 1937.

Easby-Smith, J.S. The Department of Justice: Its History and Functions. Washington, DC: W.H. Lowdermilk & Co., 1904.

Pacelle, Richard L. Jr., Between Law and Politics: The Solicitor General and the Structuring of Race, Gender, and Reproductive Rights Policy. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2003.

Salokar, Rebecca Mae. The Solicitor General: The Politics of Law. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1992.

Solicitor General's Office: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Monopolies and Commercial Law of the House Comm. on the Judiciary, 100^th Cong., 1^st Sess. (1987).

Solicitor General Oversight: Hearing before the Senate Comm. on the Judiciary, 104^th Cong., 1^st Sess. (1995).

Stern, Robert L., et al. Supreme Court Practice. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Affairs, 2002.

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INDIVIDUAL

Beck, James M. and Ollie McGuire. May It Please The Court. Atlanta, GA: The Harrison Company, 1930.

Biddle, Francis. In Brief Authority. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1962.

Davis, Michael D. and Hunter R. Clark. Thurgood Marshall: Warrior at the Bar, Rebel on the Bench. New York, NY: Carol Publishing Group, 1992.

Fried, Charles. Order and Law: Arguing the Reagan Revolution: A Firsthand Account. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1991.

Gerhart, Eugene C. America's Advocate, Robert H. Jackson. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1958.

Gormley, Ken. Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1997.

Griswold, Erwin N. Ould Fields, New Corne: The Personal Memoirs of a Twentieth Century Lawyer. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Company, 1992.

Harbaugh, William H. Lawyer's Lawyer: The Life of John W. Davis. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1973.

Huntley, Theodore A. and Horace Green. The Life of John W. Davis. New York, NY: Duffield & Company, 1924.

Rowan, Carl Thomas. Dream Makers, Dream Breakers: The World of Justice Thurgood Marshall. Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Company, 1993.

Webb, Ross A. Benjamin Helm Bristow: Border State Politician. Lexington, KY: Kentucky Univ. Press, 1969.

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PERIODICALS

Bloch, Susan L., The Early Role of the Attorney General in Our Consitutional Scheme: In the Beginning There Was Pragmatism, 1989 Duke Law Jounral 561.

Book Note, Probing the Role of the Solicitor General (Review of Solokar: The Solicitor General : the Politics of Law), 106 Harvard Law Review 504 (1992).

Bork, Robert H., The Problems and Pleasures of Being Solicitor General, 42 Antitrust Law Journal 701 (1972/1973).

Burt, Jeffrey A. and Irving S. Schloss, Note, Government Litigation in the Supreme Court: The Roles of the Solicitor General, 78 Yale Law Journal 1442 (1969).

Callen, Craig R., Stare Decisis and the Case for Executive Restraint, 9 Mississippi College Law Review 79 (1988) (reviewing Lincoln Caplan, The Tenth Justice: The Solicitor General and the Rule of Law (1987)).

Caplan, Lincoln, Annals of Law-Part I, The New Yorker, August 10, 1987 at 29.

Caplan, Lincoln, Annals of Law-Part II, The New Yorker, August 17, 1987 at 30.

Chamberlain, Ronald S., Note, Mixing Politics and Justice: The Office of Solicitor General, 4 Journal of Law & Politics 379 (1987).

Clegg, Roger, The Thirty-Fifth Law Clerk,1987 Duke Law Journal 964 (reviewing Lincoln Caplan, The Tenth Justice: The Solicitor General and the Rule of Law (1987)).

Cooper, James L., The Solicitor General and the Evolution of Activism, 65 Indiana Law Journal 675 (1990).

Cox, Archibald, The Government in the Supreme Court, 44 Chicago Bar Record 221 ( February 1963).

Days, Drew S., In Search of the Solicitor General's Clients: A Drama with Many Characters, 83 Kentucky Law Journal 485 (1995).

Days, Drew S., No Striped Pants and Morning Coat: The Solicitor General in the State and Lower Federal Courts, 11 Georgia State University Law Review 645 (1995).

Days, Drew S., The Solicitor General and the American Legal Ideal, 49 SMU Law Review 73 (1995).

Days, Drew S., Essay, The Interests of the United States, the Solicitor General and Individual Rights, 41 St. Louis University Law Review 1 (1996).

Days, Drew S., Executive Branch Advocate v. Officer of the Court: the Solicitor General's Ethical Dilemma, 22 Nova Law Review 679 (1998).

Days, Drew S., When the President Says "No": a Few Thoughts on Executive Power and the Tradition of Solicitor General Independence, 3 Journal of Appellate Practice and Process 509 (2001).

Devins, Neal E., Unitarines and Independence: Solicitor General Control over Independent Agency Litigation, 82 California Law Review 255 (1994).

Elman, Philip (interviewed by Norman Silber), The Solicitor General's Office, Justice Frankfurter and Civil Rights Litigation, 1946-1960: an Oral History, 100 Harvard Law Review 817 (1987).

Fahy, Charles, The Office of the Solicitor General, 28 American Bar Association Journal 20 (January 1942).

Fahy, Charles, Special Ethical Problems of Counsel for the Government, 33 Federal Bar Journal 331 (Fall 1974).

Fisher, Louis, Is the Solicitor General an Executive or a Judicial Agent?, 15 Law & Social Inquiry 305 (1990) (reviewing Lincoln Caplan, The Tenth Justice: The Solicitor General and the Rule of Law (1987)).

Fraley, George F. III, Note, Is the Fox Watching the Henhouse?: The Administration's Control of FEC Litigation through the Solicitor General, 9 Administrative Law Review 1215 (1996).

Griswold, Erwin N., The Office of the Solicitor General--Representing the Interests of the United States Before the Supreme Court, 34 Missouri Law Review 527 (1969).

Harvey, James R. III, Note, Loyalty in Government Litigation: Department of Justice Representation of Agency Clients, 37 William and Mary Law Review 1569 (1996).

Jenkins, John A., The Solicitor General's Winning Ways, 69 American Bar Association Journal 734 (June 1983).

Kalt, Brian C., Wade H. McCree, Jr., and the Office of Solicitor General, 1977-1981, 1998 Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University Law Review 703.

Keeting, Robert E., Review: Griswold: Ould Fields, New Corne: The Personal Memoirs of a Twentieth Century Lawyer, 105 Harvard Law Review 1386 (1992).

LaForge, Bill, The "Tenth Justice" and Counterterrorism: Theodore B. Olson, Solicitor General of the United States, 49 Federeal lawyer 18 (2002).

Landsberg, Brian K., Book Review: The Tenth Justice: The Solicitor General and the Rule of Law, 6 Constitutional Commentary 165 (1989).

Lee, Rex E., Lawyering for the Government: Politics, Polemics & Principle, 47 Ohio State Law Journal 595 (1986).

Lee, Rex E., Lawyering in the Supreme Court: The Role of the Solicitor General, 21 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 1059 (1988).

Lee, Rex E., The Advocate's Role in First Amendment Jurisprudence, 31 Gonzaga Law Review 265 (1995/1996).

Lochner, Todd, Note, The Relationship Between the Office of Solicitor General and the Independent Agencies: A Reevaluation, 79 Virginia Law Review 549 (1993).

Marasciullo, Janene M., Essay, Removability and the Rule of Law: The Independence of the Solicitor General, 57 George Washington Law Review 750 (1989).

McConnell, Michael W., The Rule of Law and the Role of the Solicitor General, 21 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 1105 (1988).

McCree, Wade H., Jr., The Solicitor General and His Client, 59 Washington University Law Quarterly 337 (1981).

McGinnis, John O., Principle Versus Politics: The Solicitor General's Office in Constitutional and Bureaucratic Theory, 44 Stanford Law Review 799 (1992) (reviewing Charles Fried, Order and Law: Arguing the Reagan Revolution-A Firsthand Account (1991)).

Memorandum Opinion #77-56 for the Attorney General: Role of the Solicitor General, 1 Op. Off. Legal Counsel 228-235 (1977). (Also reprinted in 21 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 1089 (1988).

Norman-Major, Kristen A., The Solicitor General: Executive Policy Agendas and the Court, 57 Albany Law Review 1081 (1994).

Note, Government Litigation in the Supreme Court: the Roles of the Solicitor General, 78 Yale Law Journal 1442 (1969).

Note, The Solicitor General and Intragovernmental Conflict, 76 Michigan Law Review 324 (1977).

O'Connor, Karen, The Amicus Curiae Role of the U.S. Solicitor General in Supreme Court Litigation," 66 Judicature 256 (December-January 1983).

Office of Solicitor General, 3 Journal of Appellate Practice and Process 505 (2001).

Perlman, Philip B., The Work of the Office of the Solicitor General of the United States, 54 Maryland State Bar Association 265 (1949).

Prettyman, E. Barrett Jr., Robert H. Jackson: Solicitor General for Life, 1992 Journal of Supreme Court History 75.

Reed in Collapse; AAA Cases Halted, New York Times, 1, 9 (December 11, 1935) (tale of Solicitor General Stanley Reed's collapse from exhaustion in the middle of a 3 day argument before the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of AAA and Bankhead Act, under heavy questioning from "Four Horsemen").

Rex E. Lee Conference on the Office of the Solicitor General of the United States, 2003 Brigham Young University Law Review 2 (2003).

Rosenzweig, David M., Note, Confession of Error in the Supreme Court by the Solicitor General, 82 Georgetown Law Journal 2079 (1994).

Schnapper, Eric, Becket at the Bar: The Conflicting Obligations of the Solicitor General, 21 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 1187 (1988).

Schwartz, Joshua I., Two Perspectives on the Solicitor General's Independence, 21 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 1119 (1988).

Schwartz, Joshua I., The President's Lawyer as Frie(n)d -A Review of Order and the Law: Arguing the Reagan Revolution- A Firsthand Account, 60 George Washington Law Review 1081 (1992).

Sobeloff, Simon E., The Law Business of the United States, 34 Oregon Law Review 145 (1955).

Sobeloff, Simon E., Attorney for the Government: The Work of the Solicitor General's Office, 41 American Bar Association Journal 229 (March 1955).

Stern, Robert L., Comment, "Inconsistency" in Government Litigation, 64 Harvard Law Review 759 (1951).

Stern, Robert L., The Solicitor General's Office and Administrative Agency Litigation, 21 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 1073 (1988).

Stern, Robert L., Reminiscences of the Solicitor General's Office, 1995 Journal of Supreme Court History 123.

Strauss, David A., The Solicitor General and the Interests of the United States, 61 Law and Contemporary Problems 165 (1998).

Symposium: The Role and Function of the United States Solicitor General, 21 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review (June 1988).

Thatcher, Thomas D., Genesis and Present Duties of Office of Solicitor General, 17 American Bar Association Journal 519 (1931) .

Tribute to Simon E. Sobeloff, 34 Maryland Law Review 483 (1974).

Uelmen, Gerald F., The Influence of the Solicitor General Upon Supreme Court Disposition of Federal Circuit Court Decisions: A Closer Look at the Ninth Circuit Record, 69 Judicature 360 (April-May 1986).

Waxman, Seth P., Does the Solicitor General Matter? 53 Stanford Law Review 1115 (May 2001).

Waxman, Seth P., In the Shadow of Daniel Webster: Arguing Appeals in the Twenty-First Century, 3 Journal of Appellate Practice and Process 521 (Fall 2001).

Waxman, Seth P., "Presenting the Case of the United States as It Should Be": the Solicitor General in Historical Context, 1998 Journal of Supreme Court History 3.

Waxman, Seth P., The Physics of Persuasion: Arguing the New Deal, 88 Georgetown Law Journal 2399 (2000).

Waxman, Seth P., Twins at Birth: Civil Rights and the Role of the Solicitor General, 75 Indiana Law Journal 1297 (2000).

Werdegar, Kathryn Mickle, The Solicitor General and Administrative Due Process: A Quarter-Century of Advocacy, 36 George Washington Law Review 481 (1968).

Wilkins, Richard G., An Officer and an Advocate: The Role of the Solicitor General, 21 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 1167 (1988).

Wright, Charles Allen, A Man May Live Greatly in the Law, 70 Texas Law Review 505 (1991) (reviewing Erwin N. Griswold, Ould Fields, New Corne: The Personal Memoirs of a Twentieth Century Lawyer (1992)).