[JURIST] US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts [OYEZ profile; JURIST news archive] on Thursday selected [press release, PDF] James Duff [firm profile], a former aide to Chief Justice Rehnquist, as the next director of the Administrative Office of the US Courts [official website], where he will represent the federal courts before Congress during budget and salary negotiations. Duff will face the task of ironing out frictions between the federal judiciary and Congress stemming from controversial judicial outcomes and from Congressional attempts to curb perceived "judicial activism."

Roberts indicated in his first year-end report [JURIST report] last January that Congress should address courtroom security issues, and that low judicial pay has driven top judges to the private sector, threatening the "independence of the judiciary." AP has more.