With his senate confirmation hearings drawing to a close, John Roberts is poised to become the next Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court.  But his evasive answers to senatorial inquiries have left open some rather large questions: how will he behave as a judge?  Will he be a more doctrinaire conservative, like Scalia and Thomas, or will he be more pragmatic and cautious?  Just the kinds of questions the I Ching was made to answer. 

     So I asked.  And the oracle replied that Chief Justice Roberts should be more cautious and compromising in his judicial decisions.   Notice the reply seems to emphasize the normative (what he should do) as opposed to the empirical (what he actually will do), but that may reflect the optimism of the I Ching, its presumption that wise men will do the right thing.  More below the fold.

    A really interesting response: the oracle returned hexagram 38, "Opposition," with all four yang lines (in the first, second, fourth and sixth positions) pure or "moving," thus pointing in the direction of hexagram 2, "The Receptive."

    What is most remarkable about this answer is that it describes the divisions within the current Supreme Court.  Remember many important recent decisions have been based on 5-4 votes.  Roberts, in taking Rehnquist’s seat, is stepping into a position that had been reliably conservative on many issues.  So, his colleagues will immediately be watching which way he moves on the cases now before the court.  But at the same time, as Chief Justice, he will have to demonstrate fairness to those with whom he disagrees to maintain the integrity and smooth functioning of the Court. 

    The Judgment of hexagram 38 seems to capture this situation perfectly:

When people live in opposition and estrangement they cannot carry out a great undertaking in common; their points of view diverge too widely.  In such circumstances one should above all not proceed brusquely, for that would only increase the existing opposition; instead one should limit oneself to producing gradual effects in small matters.  Here success can still be expected, because the situation is such that the opposition does not preclude all agreement.

    Gradual, piecemeal, compromising progress is the order of the day.  This does not sound like a recipe for overturning established precedents and boldly implementing new judicial theories.  It is a call for pragmatism.

    The messages of the pure yang lines reinforce this message.  One nice excerpt from the first line:

If you lose your horse, do not run after it:
It will come back of its own accord.

    The commentary for which explains:

When opposition begins to manifest itself,  a man must try not to bring about unity by force, for by so doing he would only achieve the contrary, just as a horse goes farther and farther away if one runs after it.

    The other lines discuss the importance of finding and maintaining friendships on the Court and the importance of seeing apparent opponents in the best possible light.  I can’t resist this quote:

Nine at the top means:
Isolated through opposition,
One sees one’s companion as a pig covered with dirt,
As a wagon full of devils.
First one draws the bow against him,
Then one lays the bow aside.

     If he allows himself to become isolated by the divisions on the Court, Roberts may misperceive his colleagues (see them as dirty pigs!) and try to fight them.  Instead he should "lay the bow aside," and find compromise where it can be made. 

     And, by pointing in the direction of Hexagram 2, "The Receptive," the oracle is further reinforcing the need for limiting one’s personal interests or agenda.  In this case, the general theme of finding success in following, not in leading, could point to the necessity of subordinating oneself to the law and precedent.  If Roberts does that, as he said he would in his confirmation hearings, and stays away from imposing a particular ideology, then should should find success.  Roberts the moderate pragmatist, not Roberts the stark ideologue, will realize the Receptive’s message:

Quiet perseverance brings good fortune.