Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 6, 1 Iune 1999 — AG: Roberts for Rice [ARTICLE]

AG: Roberts for Rice

By Paula Durbln

Mawaits attorney general has selected John Roberts, a partner in the high-profile Washington, D.C., firm Hogan and Hartson, to argue the state's position in Rice vs. Cayetano before the United States Supreme Court in October. "We are very pleased that he accepted because he has such fīne credentials and all the neeessary experience to represent the state's position," Cynthia Quinn, special assistant to Acting Attorney General Thomas Keller, told Ka Wai Ola at press time. According to her, the Department of the Attorney General will pay for Robert's services with funds the legislature allocated for a special line item included in the department's fmal budget. A native of Buffalo, n.y., Roberts has a B.A. and a J.D. from Harvard University where he was managing editor of the Harvard Law Review. After clerking for U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Renquist from 1980 - 1 98 1 , he spent a year as special assistant to U.S. Attorney General William French Smith. In 1 982, President Ronald Reagan appointed Roberts to the White House staff as a special counsel, a position he held until joining Hogan and Hartson in 1986. From 1989 - 1993, he left the firm to accept an appointment

as Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States. Since returning to Hogan and Hartson, he has headed the firm's appellate practice group. Of the 30 cases Roberts has argued before the Supreme Court, he has won 20 and lost eight. "We are very excited about this opportunity to represent the state," he said from his office in Washington. "We appreciate the importance of the case and we wiŪ do everything possible to represent the state as best we ean." Attorneys for petitioner Harold "Freddy" Rice filed their brief in the Supreme Court May 27. Filing an amicus curiae brief the same day were the Center for Equal Opportunity and the New York Civil Rights Coahtion, represented by the Washington firm of Kirkland and Ellis. Listed among the attorneys on this amicus brief is Robert Bork, a former Supreme Court nominee rejected by the Senate. By press time, two other amicus briefs had been filed by the Pacific Legal Foundation and Citizens for a Racially Neutral Society, respectively. The state has 60 days from May 27 by whieh to file its brief. OHA's amicus euiiae brief is also due by the same date. ■

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