Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Associate Justice John Paul Stevens Signed.

ROBERTS, John G. and John Paul Stevens.

Item Number: 47050

Color photograph of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice John Paul Stevens standing in front of the Supreme Court following Roberts’ oath-taking. Boldly signed on the mat below their images by both Roberts and Stevens. Matted and framed with an original invitation to the swearing in ceremony for Roberts held at the court on October 3, 2005. As senior member of the Court, Stevens administered the oath of office at the ceremony. The photograph measures 9.5 inches by 6.5 inches. The entire framed piece measures 16 inches by 18.5 inches.

John G. Roberts took the Constitutional oath of office, administered by Associate Justice John Paul Stevens at the White House, on September 29. On October 3, he took the judicial oath provided for by the Judiciary Act of 1789 at the United States Supreme Court building, prior to the first oral arguments of the 2005 term. At age 50, Roberts became the youngest member of the Court, and the third-youngest person to have ever become Chief Justice (John Jay was appointed at age 44 in 1789 while John Marshall was appointed at age 45 in 1801). However, many Associate Justices, such as Clarence Thomas (appointed at age 43) and William O. Douglas (appointed at age 40 in 1939), have joined the Court at a younger age than Roberts. Justice Antonin Scalia said that Roberts "pretty much run[s] the show the same way" as Rehnquist, albeit "let[ting] people go on a little longer at conference ... but [he'll] get over that."