John Roberts Chosen by Bush for U.S. Supreme Court

[Bond]

July 19 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President George W. Bush selected John G. Roberts Jr., a Washington federal appeals court judge with a limited public record on social issues, to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, administration officials said.

Roberts, 50, would succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the court's current swing vote on abortion and affirmative action. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the first new justice since 1994.

In choosing Roberts, Bush opted for a nominee who may draw less opposition than more outspoken alternatives would have. Roberts was confirmed by the Senate on a voice vote for his seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2003.

Roberts is one of the country's most experienced Supreme Court practitioners. He argued 39 times at the high court on behalf of the U.S. government and private clients. He is a former Rehnquist law clerk who served as deputy solicitor general under the first President Bush.

Source: Bloomberg

Roberts seems to a solid choice with good credentials.

[Crash]

and everyone loves him except the pro choice people.

[Jonbo298]

I'm Pro Choice also but if he is fair (ie: Listens to all sides obviously ) then I'm fine with him. But then again, I know little about the guy anyways....

[Stonecutter]

Ladies and Gentlemen your new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court MR DAN QUAYLE!

[Professor S]

Yes, even I'll agree they do look alike.

The pro-choice people, as in NOW, NERU and other left wing groups have come out against him, but most mainstream dems seem to support his choice (Lieberman, among others)

The funny part is that he came out years ago as saying that Roe vs. Wade was settled law and he would uphold the decision. I think that many of the far laft are so vehemently against Roberts because they hate Bush and they would have come out against any choice that Bush made.

If all but a handful of Republicans ratified Darth Vader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court, I think the democrats can easily vote for a moderate conservative like Roberts.

[Jonbo298]

Speaking of Lieberman: I saw him on the news last night. God he looks like "crap" with that beard. He must be taking a page from Al Gore

[Neo]

I say just vote on him...could be a lot worse.

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by Neo

I say just vote on him...could be a lot worse.

Well I hope he does receive a vote. If the dems decide to try and filibuster Roberts, all HELL is going to break loose and it will end up hurting both parties.

[Xantar]

The Democrats won't filibuster him. They're in the minority, but they aren't totally stupid. He'll probably get the post just because nobody knows what he really thinks for the most part. They've only got a few years of case law to judge by on him. The rest of the time, he was an attorney who was paid to take particular positions.

My guess is that he'll weaken Roe v. Wade further just because I don't think Bush would have nominated him otherwise. What will be interesting is what he thinks about affirmative action, the death penalty, regulation of the media and so on. My guess is that he will surprise some of us. Which might mean that he'll disappoint right wingers by not being a reliable demagogue.

And that would certainly be a good thing.