Roberts May Lead a Conservative Shift on High Court
July 20 (Bloomberg) -- John G. Roberts Jr., President George W. Bush's first nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, may nudge the high court in a more conservative direction, according to legal experts and interest groups.
Roberts, who would succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, offers top academic marks, a resume laden with conservative connections and a bipartisan list of high-powered admirers acquired over the course of a 25-year career as a Washington lawyer.
The 50-year-old jurist's intellectual heft and personal skills offer at least the potential to influence other justices and shift the court to the right, said Pepperdine University law professor Douglas Kmiec, who worked with Roberts in the Reagan administration.
``This is the makings of a conservative Bill Brennan,'' Kmiec said, referring to the justice who was the intellectual leader of the liberal court under Chief Justice Earl Warren in the 1960s. ``Combine his work ethic with a downright dynamite personality, and you've got somebody who will be extremely effective.''
With barely two years judicial experience and only a handful of academic articles to his credit, Roberts doesn't have much of a track record on many of the issues he likely would consider as a justice. And justices have been known to surprise their presidential sponsors. On the current court, Republican appointees David Souter, Anthony Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor and John Paul Stevens all proved less conservative than some of their supporters had hoped.
Conservatives Applaud
After Bush nominated Roberts to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2001, 150 Washington lawyers signed a letter saying he ``represents the best of the bar'' and ```would be a superb federal court of appeals judge.'' The group included a number of prominent Democrats, among them former top Clinton administration lawyers Seth Waxman and Lloyd Cutler.
``I don't see ideological underpinnings,'' said A.E. Dick Howard, a law professor at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. ``Conservative, yes, but ideology, no,''
Conservative groups reacted with pleasure -- and liberals with trepidation -- at Bush's choice of Roberts. ``His nomination is a solid first step towards returning the federal judiciary to its proper role in our system,'' said former White House Counsel C. Boyden Gray, chairman of the Committee for Justice, which was formed to support Bush's judicial nominees.
``It is extremely disappointing that the president did not choose a consensus nominee in the mold of Sandra Day O'Connor,'' said Ralph Neas, president of Washington-based People for the American Way. The group's legal director, Elliot Mincberg, once worked with Roberts at the Washington law firm Hogan & Hartson.
Adhering to Precedent
The biggest question may be how quick Roberts would be to overturn Supreme Court precedents with which he disagrees. In a 2003 case involving the Endangered Species Act, he suggested he may take a cautious approach toward the law.
Roberts voted to reconsider a three-judge panel's ruling that upheld application of the law to protect a California toad species, saying it ``seems inconsistent'' with Supreme Court precedent. At the same time, he suggested he would be open to other arguments in favor of the law.
Abortion-rights groups point to a Supreme Court brief he filed in 1990, calling on the justices to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion-rights decision. Roberts signed that brief in his official capacity as a lawyer for President George H.W. Bush's administration.
Settled Law
In Senate testimony in 2003, Roberts called Roe, which the high court reaffirmed in the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision, ``the settled law of the land.'' He added: ``There's nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent, as well as Casey.''
In its next term, the high court is set to decide whether states that require parental notification before a minor can get an abortion must make an exception when the procedure is needed to protect the girl's health.
Roberts, who grew up in Indiana and earned both his undergraduate and law degrees with honors from Harvard University, came to Washington in 1980 to clerk for William Rehnquist, then an associate justice and now chief justice.
The two have remained close, friends said. Roberts attended Rehnquist's annual law-clerk reunion earlier this year and imitated the chief justice as part of a good-natured skit.
After his clerkship, Roberts was a special assistant to then- Attorney General William French Smith before joining the White House counsel's office under Reagan. Roberts left the government to join Hogan & Hartson in 1986.
Supreme Court Practice
He rose to head the firm's Supreme Court practice and in 2003 earned slightly more than $1 million, according to his federal financial disclosure form.
Roberts left the firm in 1989 for four years to work in the first Bush administration, serving as deputy to Solicitor General Kenneth Starr. With his time at the Justice Department and in private practice, Roberts has argued 39 cases at the Supreme Court.
``He is without question, one of the best Supreme Court advocates of his generation,'' said Gregory Garre, a former colleague at Hogan & Hartson.
As a private litigator, Roberts often served corporate clients, among them Toyota Motor Corp. and the American Gaming Association. Roberts also argued before a lower court for a group of states suing Microsoft Corp. for antitrust violations.
Legendary Preparation
Roberts's preparation for arguing at the high court is legendary at Hogan & Hartson, said Garre.
Weeks before he was due to appear in court, Roberts would carry around a legal pad and scribble questions he might be asked, and his expected answers. As the date approached, Roberts would have ``literally hundreds'' of potential responses. He would also hold at least three mock arguments, honing his reasoning.
As a boss, Roberts was demanding, said H. Christopher Bartolomucci, another Hogan partner, who worked for him as a younger attorney. ``You know what he's expecting of you, but he doesn't wield a stick,'' he said.
Roberts is an avid golfer who hasn't been able to spend much time on the course since adopting a son and a daughter about five years ago, Bartolomucci said.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net.
Roberts, who would succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, offers top academic marks, a resume laden with conservative connections and a bipartisan list of high-powered admirers acquired over the course of a 25-year career as a Washington lawyer.
The 50-year-old jurist's intellectual heft and personal skills offer at least the potential to influence other justices and shift the court to the right, said Pepperdine University law professor Douglas Kmiec, who worked with Roberts in the Reagan administration.
``This is the makings of a conservative Bill Brennan,'' Kmiec said, referring to the justice who was the intellectual leader of the liberal court under Chief Justice Earl Warren in the 1960s. ``Combine his work ethic with a downright dynamite personality, and you've got somebody who will be extremely effective.''
With barely two years judicial experience and only a handful of academic articles to his credit, Roberts doesn't have much of a track record on many of the issues he likely would consider as a justice. And justices have been known to surprise their presidential sponsors. On the current court, Republican appointees David Souter, Anthony Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor and John Paul Stevens all proved less conservative than some of their supporters had hoped.
Conservatives Applaud
After Bush nominated Roberts to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2001, 150 Washington lawyers signed a letter saying he ``represents the best of the bar'' and ```would be a superb federal court of appeals judge.'' The group included a number of prominent Democrats, among them former top Clinton administration lawyers Seth Waxman and Lloyd Cutler.
``I don't see ideological underpinnings,'' said A.E. Dick Howard, a law professor at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. ``Conservative, yes, but ideology, no,''
Conservative groups reacted with pleasure -- and liberals with trepidation -- at Bush's choice of Roberts. ``His nomination is a solid first step towards returning the federal judiciary to its proper role in our system,'' said former White House Counsel C. Boyden Gray, chairman of the Committee for Justice, which was formed to support Bush's judicial nominees.
``It is extremely disappointing that the president did not choose a consensus nominee in the mold of Sandra Day O'Connor,'' said Ralph Neas, president of Washington-based People for the American Way. The group's legal director, Elliot Mincberg, once worked with Roberts at the Washington law firm Hogan & Hartson.
Adhering to Precedent
The biggest question may be how quick Roberts would be to overturn Supreme Court precedents with which he disagrees. In a 2003 case involving the Endangered Species Act, he suggested he may take a cautious approach toward the law.
Roberts voted to reconsider a three-judge panel's ruling that upheld application of the law to protect a California toad species, saying it ``seems inconsistent'' with Supreme Court precedent. At the same time, he suggested he would be open to other arguments in favor of the law.
Abortion-rights groups point to a Supreme Court brief he filed in 1990, calling on the justices to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion-rights decision. Roberts signed that brief in his official capacity as a lawyer for President George H.W. Bush's administration.
Settled Law
In Senate testimony in 2003, Roberts called Roe, which the high court reaffirmed in the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision, ``the settled law of the land.'' He added: ``There's nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent, as well as Casey.''
In its next term, the high court is set to decide whether states that require parental notification before a minor can get an abortion must make an exception when the procedure is needed to protect the girl's health.
Roberts, who grew up in Indiana and earned both his undergraduate and law degrees with honors from Harvard University, came to Washington in 1980 to clerk for William Rehnquist, then an associate justice and now chief justice.
The two have remained close, friends said. Roberts attended Rehnquist's annual law-clerk reunion earlier this year and imitated the chief justice as part of a good-natured skit.
After his clerkship, Roberts was a special assistant to then- Attorney General William French Smith before joining the White House counsel's office under Reagan. Roberts left the government to join Hogan & Hartson in 1986.
Supreme Court Practice
He rose to head the firm's Supreme Court practice and in 2003 earned slightly more than $1 million, according to his federal financial disclosure form.
Roberts left the firm in 1989 for four years to work in the first Bush administration, serving as deputy to Solicitor General Kenneth Starr. With his time at the Justice Department and in private practice, Roberts has argued 39 cases at the Supreme Court.
``He is without question, one of the best Supreme Court advocates of his generation,'' said Gregory Garre, a former colleague at Hogan & Hartson.
As a private litigator, Roberts often served corporate clients, among them Toyota Motor Corp. and the American Gaming Association. Roberts also argued before a lower court for a group of states suing Microsoft Corp. for antitrust violations.
Legendary Preparation
Roberts's preparation for arguing at the high court is legendary at Hogan & Hartson, said Garre.
Weeks before he was due to appear in court, Roberts would carry around a legal pad and scribble questions he might be asked, and his expected answers. As the date approached, Roberts would have ``literally hundreds'' of potential responses. He would also hold at least three mock arguments, honing his reasoning.
As a boss, Roberts was demanding, said H. Christopher Bartolomucci, another Hogan partner, who worked for him as a younger attorney. ``You know what he's expecting of you, but he doesn't wield a stick,'' he said.
Roberts is an avid golfer who hasn't been able to spend much time on the course since adopting a son and a daughter about five years ago, Bartolomucci said.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net.
posted by The Loyal Servant of Truth at 7/20/2005 02:18:00 PM
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