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President
Chooses Conservative for Supreme Court |
Posted:
07.25.05
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President Bush's choice of Judge John Roberts Jr. for the Supreme
Court could change the direction of law for decades to come.
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"John Roberts has devoted his entire professional life to
the cause of justice," Mr. Bush said in a prime-time announcement
at the White House, "and is widely admired for his intellect,
his sound judgment and his personal decency."
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Roberts will replace Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor, who has been known as a "swing vote"
on the high court that has been closely divided on issues such
as abortion, affirmative action, states' rights and the death
penalty.
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Who is Judge
Roberts? |
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The 50-year-old Roberts was born in Buffalo, N.Y., raised in
Indiana and graduated from both Harvard University and Harvard
Law School.
He worked for presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush and has
served on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.
since 2001.
He is considered a solid conservative who some analysts think
could mirror the viewpoints of both Justice Clarence Thomas and
Justice Antonin Scalia, both openly admired by President Bush.
 The
president went with "a nominee who will narrowly interpret
the Constitution, who will not read new rights into the Constitution
beyond the rights that are explicitly stated in that document,
who will, as President Bush said, apply the law, not make up the
law from the bench," legal reporter Jan Crawford Greenburg
said.
Roberts has argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court and won
25 of them.
"I always got a lump in my throat whenever I walked up those
marble steps to argue a case before the court, and I don't think
it was just from the nerves," Roberts said when President
Bush announced his nomination.
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The confirmation
process |
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President Bush has stated that he would like a new justice in
place before the next Supreme Court session, which begins in October.
"I urge the Senate to rise to the occasion, to provide a
fair and civil process and to have Judge Roberts in place before
the next court session begins," the president said at a recent
speech in Baltimore.
 The
Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings and then make a
recommendation to the full Senate.
According to Senate rules, the only way that Democrats can stop
Roberts' nomination is through the use of a filibuster, a long
series of speeches meant to prevent a vote.
But earlier this spring, a group of 14 centrist senators agreed
that the filibuster would only be used in "extraordinary
circumstances."
Key senators who brokered that agreement said last week that
Roberts' nomination would not justify a Democratic filibuster.
"Everybody ought to cool their jets on this and let the
process work," Nebraska Democratic Senator Ben Nelson told
the Washington Post.
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A sure thing? |
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Because he was a lawyer who argued cases for clients instead
of writing his own opinions until 2003, "His legal record,
and views on the record, it's very thin. And there's not a lot
there for Democrats looking for inflammatory statements or things
that they might use to hold against him," said Greenburg.
Liberal groups such as the legal group Alliance for Justice and
the abortion rights group Planned Parenthood are pushing the Senate
Judiciary Committee to ask deep questions.
 Judge
Roberts told senators in 2003 that he would abide by Roe v. Wade,
the decision that defined a woman's right to have an abortion
in the United States, while on a lower court because it was the
law of the land.
However, Democrats point out that he would be in a position to
redefine that law on the high court.
"The Supreme Court is totally different than courts of appeals,"
said New York Senator Charles Schumer, a Democratic member of
the Judiciary Committee who voted against confirming Roberts to
the appeals court in 2003. "The nominee for the Supreme Court
has the broadest jurisdiction and ability to change people's lives."
Conservative groups have cheered the nomination and expect Roberts
to be confirmed.
"I think it's going to be hard for the left to fight him,"
Paul Weyrich, chairman of the Free Congress Foundation told the
New York Times.
--
Compiled by Annie Schleicher for NewsHour Extra
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