I am in awe of Nino Scalia’s genius, and it would be amusing to have him as the chief justice because it would so anger the Left — but I think there’s a misunderstanding at work about what a Chief Justice actually is and what he does these days.

Seems to me — I’m not an ex-clerk like a lot of folks around here, so I’m writing from the outside — that the chief justice is a little more like the chairman of a department at a university. It’s a job that sounds far more powerful and central than it actually is. Every justice is a king or queen unto himself or herself, and in no way “works” for the chief. The responsibility is largely administrative and procedural — including managing the politics of who writes which opinions — and therefore probably a little thankless. Or am I being an ignoramus?