--- title: John Roberts Is on the 2020 TIME 100 List description: Find out why John Roberts is one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. canonical: https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888317/john-roberts/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-09-22T18:38:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-07-21T07:22:32.850Z og:title: John Roberts: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 og:description: Find out why John Roberts is on this year’s list og:url: https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888317/john-roberts/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53b0231258c5bb87/698a125009208f674e4172e5/time-100-John-Roberts.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: John Roberts: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John Roberts: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 twitter:description: Find out why John Roberts is on this year’s list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53b0231258c5bb87/698a125009208f674e4172e5/time-100-John-Roberts.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 22, 2020 # John Roberts by Anthony Kennedy  WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 04: (L-R) U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh await the arrival to hear President Donald Trump deliver the State of the Union address in the House chamber on February 4, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump is delivering his third State of the Union address on the night before the U.S. Senate is set to vote in his impeachment trial. (Photo by Leah Millis-Pool/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 04: (L-R) U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh await the arrival to hear President Donald Trump deliver the State of the Union address in the House chamber on February 4, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump is delivering his third State of the Union address on the night before the U.S. Senate is set to vote in his impeachment trial. (Photo by Leah Millis-Pool/Getty Images)Leah Millis—Getty Images The [Supreme Court](https://www.supremecourt.gov/ "undefined") finds that each new Justice brings some changes, usually subtle, to the personal interactions among the nine persons who may serve together for years on end. Those changes are more evident and far-reaching when the new appointee is the Chief Justice. Over our long history, referring to the court as “[the Marshall court](https://www.supremecourt.gov/publicinfo/speeches/sp%5F05-08-01.html "undefined")” or “[the Warren court](https://www.nytimes.com/1974/07/10/archives/earl-warren-83-who-led-high-court-in-time-of-vast-social-change-is.html "undefined")” is more than a convenient shorthand. The character and temperament of the one in the court’s center chair are powerful influences on the tone and tenor of the court’s discussions and proceedings, and on how best to address profound legal and constitutional questions. The court has been unchanging in its unyielding commitment to preserve and safeguard its historic place in our constitutional system. In all these respects, the nation is fortunate that [John Roberts](https://time.com/tag/john-roberts/ "undefined") is its Chief Justice. He is no longer new on the court. Over the past 15 years, the Roberts court has been shaped by his personal modesty and his professional, scholarly skills. He has strengthened the court and the [rule of law](https://time.com/5865242/trump-supreme-court-financial-records/ "undefined") it upholds. In this era, when other branches of government and institutions in our wider society are insensitive to their own incivility, the Roberts court continues to decide questions central to the nation in a civil, thoughtful, rational, dignified way. [John Roberts](https://time.com/4845150/chief-justice-john-roberts-commencement-speech-transcript/ "undefined") and the court teach that we have freedom but must work always to keep it. _Kennedy served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1988 to 2018_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888317/john-roberts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888317/john-roberts/"},"headline":"John Roberts","datePublished":"2020-09-22T18:38:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:32.850Z","description":"Find out why the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is one of the most influential people of 2020, according to Anthony Kennedy.","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888317/john-roberts/","keywords":["TIME 100","T100 2020","T100 2020 Leaders"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53b0231258c5bb87/698a125009208f674e4172e5/time-100-John-Roberts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53b0231258c5bb87/698a125009208f674e4172e5/time-100-John-Roberts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888317/john-roberts/","name":"John Roberts"}}]}] ```