“The part that the public sees is the arguments up at the podium and the briefs that we file. But a significant part of the job - in fact, I'd say I spend more of my time on this part of the job, which is deciding what the position of the United States will be in the cases that we're going to be participating in before the court.” StatesFactsJobsUnitedCasesUnited StatesPositionArgumentCourtSignificantMy TimeFilesParticipating Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“The cases involving the question of whether U.S. courts should be open to claims of international human rights violations brought by foreign persons against foreign government officials. And the State Department on the one side has got a very consistent and powerful view that U.S. courts should be open to those claims because there needs to be a place in the world where they can be brought. And those human rights norms ought to be real and enforceable, and we ought to be a beacon to the world.” WorldNeedsShouldHumansPersonsRealStatesGovernmentSidesViewsPowerfulCasesRightsOughtClaimsCourtInternationalHuman RightsOfficialsDepartmentConsistentBeing RealNormViolationInvolvingPlaces In The WorldBeaconsGovernment Officials Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“There was only really one time that I had a substantive interaction with the president [Barak Obama] directly, and that was in 2013 when we were deciding whether to file a brief in the first gay marriage case, the Perry against Hollingsworth case. That was a weighty decision about whether the United States government was going to come in and say that heightened scrutiny ought to apply and some state bans on same-sex marriage ought to be unconstitutional. And that was the one time in my tenure where I thought I ought not make this decision without talking to the president.” FirstsStatesGovernmentSexPresidentDecisionUnitedTalkingCasesUnited StatesOughtGayOne TimeInteractionGay MarriageFilesBansScrutinyState GovernmentTenureUnconstitutionalUnited States GovernmentBarak Obama Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“I'm representing the United States. And I'm representing the United States, and my office is representing the United States day after day in front of the court. And I think it's the right thing to do, to carry that out with some dignity and some respect for the process and respect for the institution. And so that led me to just, you know, move the dial a little bit in the direction of calmness.” ThinkingKnowsLittlesStatesMovingBitsProcessUnitedUnited StatesFrontsOfficeLittle BitDignityInstitutionsCourtThings To DoRight ThingCalmnessRepresenting Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
