John Roberts Will Serve Well

ARDMORE, OK-It would appear that Circuit Judge John Roberts is on his way to being sworn in as the 17th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. I had an opportunity to watch some of the proceedings online via c-span.org and the Democrats on the committee tried their best to get some kind of commitment from Judge Roberts that Roe vs Wade would not be overturned based on the principle of stare decisis (see defintion).

The thing that I found a bit amusing about the proceeding was that some members of the Judiciary Committee wanted to lock down Roe vs. Wade as a precedent that should never be overturned. But precedent is only solid until it is reviewed anew and a case is made for a different ruling. The fact that an event sets the basis for establishing a precedent does not mean that there can never come a future event which could shed new light on a previous precedent. Such was the case with Brown vs. Board of Education which turned back the previously acceptable practice of segregated education in our public schools. Precedent simply guides lower courts until overturned by an appellate tribunal.

Another interesting dialogue that took place was the attempt to pin Judge Roberts down based on the memorandas, opinions or arguments that he made while a staff lawyer under the Reagan administration. Granted, the fact that he served under that administration as an appointed staffer suggests that his ideology was in line with Reagan. But to make the link that every action he took while in the counsel's office was his own I thought was insulting. He was beholden to his boss (as many of us are in our daily employment) and then ultimately to the President. If he had an opinion that differed from the President, it was probably voiced in closed door sessions but whatever he did in the public square, it was done as a representative of the administration.

I believe it was Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) who asked Judge Roberts about the role that his Catholic background would have on certain rulings that he might have to make. Senator Specter quoted President John Kennedy's remarks to the press that the church doesn't speak for him and he won't speak for the church. Senator Spector asked if that was Judge Roberts' approach on the bench. Judge Roberts replied in the affirmative.

Who we are and how we make decisions in life is linked very closely to the experiences we have had in our life. We filter our opinions and perceive life based on our education, upbringing, life experience and, yes, religious influences. While I didn't expect Judge Roberts to respond to Senator Specter in any other way, I also understand that if his religion does not influence who he is as a person (and I'm including serving as a judge as part of his personhood), then his religion is shallow and in vain.

Judge Roberts did an excellent job of interacting with the various Senators (some who were verbally hostile) and I believe he will make a good Chief Justice. From what I've observed, he appears to one who is open to hearing both sides of a case which is all that anyone can ask when going before a judge. His pro-bono work with charitable organizations says to me that he is not just a person who cares about the privileged but also is interested in those who are on the margins of society and possibly about those who are on the margins of the law itself.