When "Chief Justice" Is Just a Title

When Dubya shifted John Roberts's nomination from O'Connor's seat to the Chief Justice spot, I was a but surprised, simply because I would have expected a nominee with more judicial experience to be tapped for that post. But as Michael Dorf points out over at FindLaw today, being Chief Justice doesn't bring with it enough additional responsibilities to really make a difference. He's right. Aside from a slightly higher salary, being CJ doesn't have any real perks (you don't get two votes, for instance). Heck, in WV they rotate the CJ seat from justice to justice every year.