Well, according to CNN it appears as if Bush is going to bow to the pressure of the Christian Right and nominate a hardline anti-abortionist to the bench.
President Bush will select U.S. Circuit Judge John Roberts Jr. to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the nation’s highest court, CNN has learned.
Two sources, including a Senate Judiciary Committee source, said Roberts will be Bush’s choice when the president makes a formal announcement in a nationwide address at 9 p.m. ET.
Check out this bald-faced lie from the same article.
Bush, he (Specter) said, should be able to stand “above the fray” and make an appointment that would be “in the national interest”—not because he was “beholden to any group, no matter how much they contributed to his election.”
Now for the “read and weep” part. The following information was taken from the Independent Judiciary website.
Reproductive Rights. s a Deputy Solicitor General, Mr. Roberts co-wrote a Supreme Court brief in Rust v. Sullivan,1 for the first Bush administration, which argued that the government could prohibit doctors in federally-funded family planning programs from discussing abortions with their patients. The brief not only argued that the regulations were constitutional, notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, but it also made the broader argument that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided - an argument unnecessary to defend the regulation. The Supreme Court sided with the government on the narrower grounds that the regulation was constitutional.
Environmental Issues. As a student, Mr. Roberts wrote two law review articles arguing for an expansive reading of the Contracts and Takings clauses of the Constitution, taking positions that would restrict Congress’ ability to protect the environment. As a member of the Solicitor General’s office, Mr. Roberts was the lead counsel for the United States in the Supreme Court case Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation, in which the government argued that private citizens could not sue the federal government for violations of environmental regulations.
Civil Rights. After a Supreme Court decision effectively nullified certain sections of the Voting Rights Act, Roberts was involved in the Reagan administration’s effort to prevent Congress from overturning the Supreme Court’s action.6 The Supreme Court had recently decided that certain sections of the Voting Rights Act could only be violated by intentional discrimination and not by laws that had a discriminatory effect, despite a lack of textual basis for this interpretation in the statute. Roberts was part of the effort to legitimize that decision and to stop Congress from overturning it.
Religion in Schools. While working with the Solicitor General’s office, Mr. Roberts co-wrote an amicus brief on behalf of the Bush administration, in which he argued that public high schools can include religious ceremonies in their graduation programs, a view the Supreme Court rejected.
There is more information at their website. Damn, I was really hoping that Bush would nominate either Edith Clement or Alex Kozinski. While I view myself as more federalist than not, I also realize that, realistically, there are times that the federal government should step in- especially regarding the environment since we are all dependent on that for our lives. Well, we’ll see what the Dems do.
Other things you should know about the nominee:
Things you should also know:
1) Prof. Laurence Tribe, opposing counsel in Rust v. Sullivan, and leading legal thinker for the left, desribed him as “brilliant” and “very enjoyable to work with or against.”
2) White House counsel for Clinton signed on to a letter recommending his confirmation to the bench.
3) He has friends on the right and the left.
4) He will likely be confirmed.
I for one am very pleased with the nomination. I voted for Bush for this very reason.