Bush Nominates Judge John Roberts to Supreme Court
President Bush named Judge John G. Roberts, a conservative who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to the Supreme Court last night in an attempt to please the right while satisfying the left. Roberts, a former clerk to William H. Rehnquist, has a record of service in the Reagan and first Bush administrations, but his opinions aren’t well known. For example, he argued against funding for abortion-related counseling in 1990, and wrote a brief opposing the Roe v. Wade decision, but in 2003 he stated that nothing would keep him from applying the Roe v. Wade precedent.
William Kristol, editor the Weekly Standard, praised the decision, claiming Bush seized the opportunity to move the Court to right as well as elevate its quality. However, his colleague Fred Barnes says the pick was “safe,” and that Bush could have “taken a riskier approach.” Meanwhile, People for the American Way says Roberts shows a “troubling lack of concern for the fundamental civil and constitutional rights of all Americans,” citing alarming aspects of Roberts’ record including his stances on reproductive rights, veteran protection, and excessive arrest procedures. Additionally, RedState.org bluntly states “there is nothing extraordinary about John Roberts, Jr.”
