CQ Press : Current Events In Context : Future of the Supreme Court : Kenneth Jost Interview

July 21, 2005

CQ Press In Context - John Roberts Nominated for Associate Justice

Speakers: Kenneth Jost, CQ Press Supreme Court Editor
Scott Kuzner, CQ Press Interviewer

SK: Welcome to CQ Press In Context. I'm here with Kenneth Jost, Supreme Court Editor for CQ Press, and Associate Editor for the CQ Researcher with some insights about President Bush's nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge John G. Roberts, Jr. Ken, let me start by asking, what does President Bush hope to achieve by nominating John G. Roberts?

KJ: Well, President Bush has picked a lawyer and judge with a million dollar resume. Honors graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Law School, 6 years with the Reagan administration, 4 years in the Solicitor General's office under the first President Bush, then 10 years as a very distinguished private lawyer representing clients before the Supreme Court, and then finally 2 years on the Federal Appeals Court here in Washington, DC. Judge Roberts is 50 years old, younger than many of the other candidates who President Bush considered for appointment for the Supreme Court. He has a track record as a conservative but no sharp edges, and no paper trail or at least not as much of a paper trail as some of the other candidates. So, I think President Bush hopes he will be confirmed, and that he will be a very effective conservative voice on a Court that right now is delicately balanced between conservative and moderately liberal blocs.

SK: What do we know about John Roberts' views on some of the keys issues facing the Supreme Court today?

KJ: Well we know that he's a conservative; he's never shied away from that description. And he worked for 6 years under President Reagan and 4 years under President Bush, so presumably he's quite comfortable with the conservative philosophies and policies of those two presidents, and of the current President Bush. In the Solicitor General's office he took some positions quick conservative on such issues as school desegregation, on abortion, on access to courts. We don't know for sure that those are his views as opposed to the views of a lawyer representing his client, the government. In private practice he's handled a variety of cases many of them on behalf of business clients, and certainly business groups appear to be very pleased with the nomination. In two years on the Federal Appeals Court, he's handled, he's participated in about 200 cases; there's no clear ideological slant in the, in his record overall but there are a couple of interesting cases that point to a likely conservative position on the Supreme Court if he is confirmed. In one case for instance, he voted to narrow the power of the federal government to enforce the Endangered Species Act, that's a very controversial environmental law. In another case, he voted to uphold the President's power to unilaterally declare someone who's captured on the enemy, on the battlefield, to be an enemy combatant, and to be outside the protections of the Geneva Conventions for Prisoner's of War. So I think conservatives are rightly confident that he'll be a conservative voice on the Court and the question for Democrats, or rather skeptical organizations is, how conservative?

SK: What kind of confirmation process can we expect? How are Senators responding from both sides of the aisle?

KJ: Well, the Republicans of course were quick to praise the nomination and to praise John Roberts' character, intellect and views. Senator Specter, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Republican of Pennsylvania, promises a fair but thorough and respectful hearing once it gets underway. No Democrat has come out in opposition early on, but certainly the Democratic Senators have indicated that they want to question John Roberts closely about his record, and about his views on a range of issues including, you know, such broad questions as how do we interpret the Constitution? What, How important is it to uphold precedent? How important is public opinion in the formation of Court decisions? I think it'll be a, an interesting, maybe contentious, but certainly interesting confirmation process.

SK: Will there be opposition or pressure for John Roberts to detail his views on specific political issues?

KJ: Some groups came out in opposition early, uh NARAL - Pro-Choice, the abortion rights group, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the liberal organization MoveOn.org. There will certainly be pressure from the Democratic Senators on the Judiciary Committee for John Roberts to give specific answers to questions that they pose to him. And from his point of view he may well try to finesse many of them.

SK: If confirmed, what types of cases would John Roberts be facing in the next term?

KJ: Well the Court has filled up about half of its docket for the 2005-2006 term at this point. The cases involve some of the major controversies that the Supreme Court has dealt with. Abortion for instance, there's a New Hampshire abortion law requiring parental notification that'll be argued early in the term. Oregon's assisted suicide law legalizing prescription of lethal medicines for seriously ill patients gets an airing before the Court. There are four death penalty cases, that's an area where we know nothing about John Roberts' views. There's a mix of business cases on which I suspect John Roberts' expertise will be valuable. And there are, as always, some technical issues that, only lawyers would be interested in.

SK: Well Ken, thank you for your time, and thank you for visiting CQ Press In Context.