July 20, 2005
By Julie Mason and Bennett Roth
Houston Chronicle
WASHINGTON - Shrugging off pressure to fill his first Supreme Court vacancy with a woman or a minority, President Bush on Tuesday nominated John G. Roberts, a federal appeals court justice highly regarded by conservatives, for the seat vacated by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
"He's a man of extraordinary accomplishment and ability. He has a good heart. He has the qualities Americans expect in a judge: experience, wisdom, fairness and civility," Bush said in announcing his nominee. "He will strictly apply the Constitution in laws, not legislate from the bench."
Roberts, a Bush appointee to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and former deputy solicitor general, appeared with the president at the White House and called the nomination "humbling."
"Before I became a judge, my law practice consisted largely of arguing cases before the court. That experience left me with a profound appreciation for the role of the court in our constitutional democracy and a deep regard for the court as an institution," Roberts said.
He added, "I always got a lump in my throat whenever I walked up those marble steps to argue a case before the court, and I don't think it was just from the nerves."
Roberts today will go before the Senate to meet with members, the next step in a confirmation process that Bush said he expects to be finished before the new Supreme Court session begins in October.
Even before Bush made it official, Democrats and liberal special interest groups were sounding alarms over Roberts' record, signaling that his views on abortion, the environment and civil rights will be central to the upcoming debate.
"The president has chosen someone with suitable legal credentials, but that is not the end of our inquiry," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada. "The Senate must review Judge Roberts' record to determine if he has a demonstrated commitment to the core American values of freedom, equality and fairness."
Still raw from protracted and bitter judicial nomination battles, such as Texan Priscilla Owen's confirmation to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year, many Democrats and liberal interest groups are hoping to prove effective in the Supreme Court vacancy debate by not proclaiming their opposition too early.
Urging dignified debate
Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, echoed many Republicans in praising Bush's choice and calling for a dignified debate over the nomination.
"He is a known quantity, so there should not be any real surprises," Cornyn said. "I believe the Senate will be able to regard him as a consensus pick by the president."
Still, many groups were less supportive and quick to criticize Bush's choice of Roberts, warning that his record on the bench and opinions written as deputy solicitor general show his views are outside the mainstream.
"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 the liberal People for the American Way. "John Roberts' record raises serious concerns and questions about where he stands on crucial legal and constitutional issues."
First nominated in '92
Although not among the names most frequently mentioned as a likely nominee in recent weeks, Roberts is not unknown in Republican and legal circles. He was first nominated to the bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1992, but he never received a hearing in the Senate, then controlled by Democrats.
The current President Bush nominated Roberts for the circuit court in 2001, but that nomination also expired. Bush renominated Roberts in January 2003, and Roberts was confirmed five months later.
Wendy Long, counsel to the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network and a former law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas, said Roberts demonstrated during his 2003 confirmation that he has nerves and poise to withstand the approaching maelstrom.
"He didn't avoid any questions," Long said. "He answered questions very fully and substantively, but he didn't make any inappropriate statements that would undermine his independence as a judge or politicize the judicial function."
Roberts is Bush's first Supreme Court nominee. The last vacancy was filled in 1994, when President Clinton nominated Justice Stephen Breyer.
Words to be scrutinized
It will also be the first Supreme Court vacancy for 56 members of the Senate.
"I urge my fellow senators to join me in making sure the process is fair, that we treat Judge Roberts with dignity and respect, and that we have an up or down vote on Judge Roberts' nomination before the Supreme Court begins its new term on October 3," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee.
Roberts has sat on the appeals court a relatively short time, but his four years as deputy solicitor general provided a number of legal opinions that liberal-leaning interest groups used to oppose his 2003 nomination and were again circulating before Bush formally announced his selection.
Notable among them were words that Roberts will most certainly be called upon to explain in his confirmation hearing, when he told the Supreme Court in a case involving federal funding for family planning:
"(We) continue to believe that Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled," Roberts argued. " ... The court's conclusion in Roe that there is a fundamental right to an abortion ... finds no support in the text, structure or history of the Constitution."
Whittling the list
Roberts was selected by Bush after a search that began when the president took a notebook filled with dossiers on 11 potential nominees with him on a trip to Europe in early July. By last week he had whittled the list down and interviewed five candidates, including Roberts, who sat down with the president last Friday afternoon for an hour at the White House.
By Monday evening, Bush had essentially determined that he wanted Roberts, according to White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
The president interrupted his lunch with Australian Prime Minister John Howard to call Roberts Tuesday to offer him the nomination, the spokesman said.
Roberts and his wife later dined with the Bushes at the White House before the president's televised speech.
Roberts is expected to visit with all 100 senators before they leave for the summer break at the end of this month.
Chronicle Washington Bureau reporter Samantha Levine contributed to this story.
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