Note:  NOW-NJ president Suzannah Porter is quoted in this article.

Activists stake out positions

on Roberts

By ELIZABETH LLORENTE, NorthJersey.com, July 21, 2005

Liberals and conservatives in New Jersey said Wednesday that they have seen and heard enough about Appeals Judge John Roberts to begin staking out positions on his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

While many activists conceded they knew little about Roberts, who has served only two years on the federal bench for the District of Columbia Circuit, they took a firm stance on his ideas toward abortion and the rights of individuals.

"He's got a short record, but I don't think there's any doubt that he's a conservative guy," said Penny Venetis, associate director of the Rutgers Constitutional Litigation Clinic in Newark.  "He has decided things in favor of the government over individual liberties.  This is someone who can move the conservative agenda to the fore."

If the U.S. Senate approves his nomination, Roberts, 50, will succeed Sandra Day |O'Connor, who often cast the deciding vote on many controversial issues that have divided the nation's highest court.

Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg promised a fair hearing for Roberts.

"President Bush has made his choice, and although I wish he had nominated someone who has not shown such a bias against the Roe v. Wade protections, I'm sure the Senate will give Judge Roberts a full and fair hearing," Lautenberg said in a statement, referring to the Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal.  "Our role is to ensure that Supreme Court justices protect the rights of all Americans, so I want to learn more about John Roberts before coming to any final conclusions."

Anti-abortion groups praised the nomination of a federal judge whose limited public statements on legal issues include concerns about the Roe decision.  But pro-choice advocates vowed to fight to keep abortion legal at the state level.  Abortion foes cited a brief that Roberts helped author, as a lawyer in the administration of President Bush's father, that said:  "We continue to believe that Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled."

"Roe v. Wade was a bad law," said Marie Tasy, the executive director of Right to Life-NJ.  "There's no constitutional right for a mother to kill her child.

"We can see an unborn child on ultrasound," Tasy said.  "We can clearly see that this is a living human being whose right to live should be equal to that of the mother."

Pro-choice advocates, who had been bracing for the nomination of someone who might oppose the Roe decision, said they were disappointed, though not shocked, by the selection of Roberts.

They say that the prospect of Roe v. Wade's being overturned makes it critical to preserve state laws allowing abortion.

"If these decisions go back to the states, it becomes very important to have a pro-choice governor and a pro-choice legislature that will protect a woman's right to choose," said Suzannah Porter, the president of the New Jersey chapter of the National Organization for Women.  "It seems Roberts' ideology is far, far, far out of line with the mainstream and certainly with constituents in New Jersey."

Roberts was originally viewed as a long shot for the nomination by many who expected President Bush's choice to be a woman or a Hispanic.  Some minority groups said they were disappointed that the president had chosen a white male.

"He seems to be a brilliant lawyer, and to have excellent credentials," said Martin Perez, the president of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey.  "But the president has missed an opportunity to name a Hispanic to the court.  We need to have more of an ethnic and gender balance on the court, it needs to better reflect the diversity of this country.  Instead, we end up with another white male."

U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine expressed concern about Roberts' limited "written trail," and said the president should have striven to keep the court diverse.

"I am disappointed the president did not nominate a woman to replace Justice O'Connor, who honored the nation with her service as the first female justice," Corzine said in a statement.

"We have a duty to the American people to confirm a justice who will uphold our basic values and continue the legacy of Justice O'Connor, who was a voice of moderation, reason and consistency on the Supreme Court," Corzine's statement said.

O'Connor has been called the least predictable justice, though some of her key votes led to rulings that pleased liberals.  Chief among them was her 1992 vote with the majority reaffirming Roe v. Wade.

O'Connor, 75, stunned many with the announcement of her retirement just before the Fourth of July weekend.

Many had anticipated an opening on the court coming soon, but believed that it would be created by Chief Justice William Rehinquist, who has been battling cancer and recently was hospitalized.

Those who favor a more liberal choice for the court complained that Roberts on several occasions sided with government on cases involving police or judicial power over individual rights.

On the appellate court, Roberts said police did not violate the rights of a 12-year-old girl who was arrested and detained for eating a french fry inside a train station in Washington.  He upheld police trunk searches in the absence of a stated need for evidence, and he was part of a unanimous decision to allow the Pentagon to use military tribunals to try terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay.

But liberals and conservatives alike voiced admiration for Roberts' educational and professional accomplishments.  Roberts distinguished himself as a student at Harvard, and has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court 39 times.

"He has a tremendous record for someone of his age," said Ann Parone, president of the New Jersey Committee for Life, an affiliate of the National Right to Life.  "I believe he's someone who'll follow the Constitution, not legislate from the bench."

Staff Writer Josh Gohlke contributed to this article.  E-mail: llorente@northjersey.com