July 22, 2005
By Democrat-Gazette staff and wire reports
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
WASHINGTON Supreme Court nominee John Roberts gained ground Thursday in his drive for Senate confirmation. He was rated a "nonactivist judge, which everyone is looking for," by the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and was praised by several centrist Democrats.
"I'm enjoying my visits here in the Senate very much," said the 50-year-old appeals court judge, named to succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
As well he might.
On the second day of a White House-choreographed confirmation campaign, Roberts had yet to draw the public opposition of a single Senate Democrat. Talk of a filibuster and partisan political brawl over the first Supreme Court vacancy in 11 years was nonexistent.
Democrats intend to use confirmation hearings later this summer to question Roberts on his views on abortion, the overturning of court precedent, invalidating acts of Congress and more. A separate struggle awaits if, as expected, they seek access to internal Justice Department memos from his days as a government attorney.
On a second day of courtesy calls in the Senate, Roberts' schedule included Sens. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Charles Schumer of New York, two of the three Democrats who opposed his nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals two years ago.
Kennedy told reporters that he cares about how a Supreme Court justice can affect "real people's lives."
"The most obvious area is in the area of the commerce clause," which regulates interstate commerce, Kennedy said.
Schumer said he gave Roberts a list of more than 70 questions and told him to "be prepared to answer them in the best way he can" when the hearings begin.
Some were broadly written, such as, "Is it appropriate for the Supreme Court to overturn a wellsettled precedent, upon which Americans have come to rely?"
Others sought the nominee's opinion about well-known and controversial decisions of the past, such as, "Do you believe that Roe v. Wade ... was correctly decided? What is your view of the quality of the legal reasoning in that case? Do you believe that it reached the right result?" Roe v. Wade is the landmark 1973 case that established a woman's right to an abortion.
After spending an hour with Roberts on Wednesday, Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Thursday, "I think we have a man, I would interpret it, who is a nonactivist judge, which everybody is looking for. Both sides are looking for a nonactivist judge."
Specter, R-Pa., said Roberts had told him he didn't prefer such labels as liberal or conservative and "his view was that the court ought to be modest. ... The other word which he used which I thought was important was an emphasis on stability. When you talk about a modest approach by a court and an approach on stability, I think you have critical ingredients of a judge who would be non-activist."
Specter's remarks suggested he did not believe Roberts would inject personal views into his judicial rulings, a comment of potential political significance coming from a senior Republican who has long supported abortion rights.
It marked the second time in two days that Roberts' nomination was boosted by Republican senators known for reaching across party lines. On Wednesday, John McCain, R-Ariz., said Roberts did not meet the definition of "extraordinary circumstances" that would justify a filibuster under a compromise worked out by 14 senators earlier this spring.
While Senate Democrats generally have declined to express positions on Roberts' nomination, there were expressions of praise from some among the group involved in this spring's compromise.
Ben Nelson, D- Neb., said Bush had made a "wise choice." Said Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas, "So far, so good."
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who was in Little Rock on Thursday, said he is optimistic Roberts will be confirmed eventually. Roberts is a well-qualified individual who has received bipartisan support, he said.
"He represents the best pick for the court for this country, the jurisprudence of this country, at this particular time," Gonzales said.
Gonzales, who said he had been mentioned as a candidate for the Supreme Court since 2001, said he felt a great deal of pride and satisfaction with the president's nominee. The president conducted a "careful and deliberate" process and consulted with various advisers, including Gonzales, in selecting a candidates.
"There will be other vacancies," Gonzales said. "There will be women, other women who serve on the Supreme Court. There will be an Hispanic who serves on the Supreme Court. It's inevitable."
In Little Rock, seven Arkansas lawyers gathered Thursday at a downtown hotel to announce their "enthusiastic support" for the president's nomination of Roberts.
The group, consisting mostly if not solely of Republicans, called Roberts an "excellent choice" who should be confirmed easily.
Lawyer A.J. Kelly, who organized the gathering, said, "We would ask both Sen. [Blanche] Lincoln and Sen. Pryor to vote in favor of the nominee because we think he's very qualified. ... The president could not have found a better nominee."
Lincoln is the state's other Democratic U.S. senator.
Pat Hays, a lawyer who is general counsel to the Arkansas Republican Party, said she had talked to other lawyers, both Democrat and Republican, who expressed support for Roberts but couldn't attend the gathering. "He's what we call a lawyer's lawyer," she said.
Kelly added, "My feeling is in Arkansas, this nominee will have very broad and deep support."
But in Washington, some abortion-rights organizations have announced their opposition, expressing fears Roberts will become part of a court majority that first erodes and eventually overturns the historic 1973 ruling.
NARAL Pro-Choice America has cited a legal brief he co-authored for a Supreme Court case while serving as deputy solicitor general in the administration of the first President Bush. "Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled," it said in part.
Asked about the legal filing, Roberts told senators during 2003 confirmation hearings to his current post that he would be guided by legal precedent. "Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land. ... There is nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent," he said at the time.
Specter, too, said he intended to pursue the issue.
"Now I don't know if that means it's settled for a circuit judge or if it's settled generally, but I intend to look at that," he said. The Pennsylvanian added, though, that he would not ask Roberts whether he would vote to sustain the 1973 ruling if the nominee became a justice.
The nervousness about Roberts among abortion-rights groups also has been fueled by his resume. He served in two Republican administrations and was appointed to the appeals court two years ago by Bush. Women's groups aligned with Democrats also point to comments from conservative activists who have praised Roberts' selection.
But there is little in Roberts' record to guide partisans on either side of the abortion record.
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