The 411 on John G. Roberts Jr.

Here's some information I Googled on President Bush's latest nominee for the Supreme Court. If you think he's going to nominate someone liberal or moderate, guess again...

John G. Roberts

Nominated to the United States Supreme Court.

* Former Deputy Solicitor for Kenneth Starr.

* Associate White House counsel for four years under the Reagan Administration.

* Overturning Roe was such a primary focus of the Reagan Administration's Justice Department that during an oral argument by the nominee to the Supreme Court a Justice asked, "Mr. Roberts, in this case, are you asking that Roe v. Wade be overruled?" His reply was, "No your honor, the issue doesn't even come up." To this the justice replied, "Well that hasn't prevented the Solicitor General from taking that position in prior cases."*

* As Deputy Solicitor General, Roberts argued in a brief before the Supreme Court that "we continue to believe that Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled. 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."**

* As Deputy Solicitor General, Roberts filed an amicus curiae brief in NOW's case against Operation Rescue — in support of Operation Rescue, of course and in support of named individuals who routinely blocked access to clinics. At the Supreme Court level, that case was called Bray v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic (it was NOW v. Operation Rescue at the trial and appellate levels). The brief argued that the protesters’ behavior did not discriminate against women and that blockades and clinic protests were protected speech under the First Amendment. The case helped us push congressional passage of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

* Lead counsel for Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Ky, Inc. v. Williams. The case involved a woman who was fired after asking Toyota for accommodations to do her job after being diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. The court ruled that while this condition impaired her ability to work, it did not impair her ability to perform major life activities. Disability rights groups fear that this decision may erode the Americans with Disabilities Act.

* Filed an amicus brief in Adarand v. Mineta in Oct. 2001, supporting a challenge to federal affirmative action programs. He also argued against Title IX as applied to the NCAA in NCAA v. Smith.

Sources:
* NARAL
** Brief for the Respondent at 13, Rust v. Sullivan, 500 US 173, 1991

last updated 7/19/05

Damned if that doesn't sound like someone we want on our Supreme Court. Not convinced this nominee is bad news yet? Here's a listing of his campaign contributions, courtesy of Newsmeat...

Roberts, John G. Mr. Jr.
Bethesda, MD 20816
Hogan & Hartson/Attorney BUSH, GEORGE W (R)
President
BUSH FOR PRESIDENT INC. $1,000
primary 08/03/00

ROBERTS, JOHN
BETHESDA, MD 20816
HOGAN & HARTSON LUGAR, RICHARD G (R)
Senate - IN
FRIENDS OF DICK LUGAR INC $500
primary 04/11/00

ROBERTS, JOHN G JR
BETHESDA, MD 20816
HOGAN & HARTSON LLP
HOGAN & HARTSON POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $1,100
primary 03/08/00

ROBERTS, JOHN G JR
BETHESDA, MD 20816
HOGAN & HARTSON LLP
HOGAN & HARTSON POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $975
primary 03/30/99

ROBERTS, JOHN G JR
BETHESDA, MD 20816
HOGAN & HARTSON FITZGERALD, PETER G (R)
Senate - IL
FITZGERALD FOR SENATE INC $235
general 10/23/98

ROBERTS, JOHN G
BETHESDA, MD 20816
HOGAN & HARTSON FITZGERALD, PETER G (R)
Senate - IL
FITZGERALD FOR SENATE INC $500
general 06/25/98

ROBERTS, JOHN
BETHESDA, MD 20816
HOGAN & HARTSON RUSTHOVEN, PETER J (R)
Senate - IN
PETER RUSTHOVEN FOR SENATOR $750
primary 04/15/98

ROBERTS, JOHN G JR
BETHESDA, MD 20816
HOGAN & HARTSON LLP
HOGAN & HARTSON POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $975
primary 03/11/98

ROBERTS, JOHN
BETHESDA, MD 20816
HOGAN & HARTSON RUSTHOVEN, PETER J (R)
Senate - IN
PETER RUSTHOVEN FOR SENATOR $250
primary 12/10/97

ROBERTS, JOHN G
BETHESDA, MD 20816
HOGAN & HARTSON FITZGERALD, PETER G (R)
Senate - IL
FITZGERALD FOR SENATE INC $500
primary 10/29/97

ROBERTS, JOHN G JR
BETHESDA, MD 20816
HOGAN & HARTSON L L P
HOGAN & HARTSON POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $925
primary 03/18/97

ROBERTS, JOHN G JR
BETHESDA, MD 20816
HOGAN & HARTSON L L P
HOGAN & HARTSON POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $925
primary 05/25/96

ROBERTS, JOHN G
BETHESDA, MD 20816
HOGAN & HARTSON LLP
HOGAN & HARTSON POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $850
primary 03/02/95

ROBERTS, JOHN G JR
BETHESDA, MD 20816
HOGAN & HARTSON
HOGAN & HARTSON POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $850
primary 03/16/94

ROBERTS, JOHN G JR
BETHESDA, MD 20816
HOGAN & HARTSON
HOGAN & HARTSON POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $850
primary 03/12/93

We need to speak out and let President Bush know we don't want him to pack the Supreme Court with partisan judges. And let's not forget the profile Charles Lane of The Washington Post did for him on July 3.

John G. Roberts

Saturday, July 2, 2005; Page A13

John G. Roberts, 50, is considered a GOP heavyweight amid the largely Democratic Washington legal establishment.

Roberts was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2003 by President Bush. (He was also nominated by President George H.W. Bush but never received a Senate vote). He practiced law at Hogan & Hartson in the District from 1986 to 1989 and from 1993 to 2003.


From 1989 to 1993, he was the principal deputy solicitor general in the George H.W. Bush administration, helping formulate the administration's position in Supreme Court cases. In the Reagan administration, he was an aide to Attorney General William French Smith from 1981 to 1982 and an aide to White House counsel Fred Fielding from 1982 to 1986.

With his impeccable credentials -- Roberts attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School, clerked for then-Justice William H. Rehnquist Jr. on the Supreme Court and has argued frequently before the court -- the question marks about him have always been ideological. His GOP loyalties are undoubted, earning him the opposition of liberal advocacy groups, but he is not a "movement conservative," and some on the party's right doubt his commitment to their cause. His paper record is thin: As deputy solicitor general in 1990, he argued in favor of a government regulation that banned abortion-related counseling by federally funded family-planning programs. A line in his brief noted the Bush administration's belief that Roe v. Wade should be overruled.

On the D.C. Circuit, Roberts voted with two colleagues to uphold the arrest and detention of a 12-year-old girl for eating french fries on a Metro train, though his opinion noted, "No one is very happy about the events that led to this litigation." In another case, Roberts wrote a dissenting opinion that suggested Congress might lack the constitutional power to regulate the treatment of a certain species of wildlife

Do I need to dig up any more dirt on this scumbag, or are you going to sign my next Call To Action tomorrow?