Bush names John Roberts to Supreme Court...Publius2000 endorses pick

All signs are that Roberts is a fine pick and will take his role as "Trustee" of the Constitution seriously. He seems to have impeccable credentials and is well respected by the sitting members of the court for his litigation skills that have been on display before them many times during his career. For constant updates on the confirmation prcoess visit Confirm Them.

Here is an excerpt from Bush's nomiation speech:

"Judge Roberts was born in Buffalo and grew up in Indiana. In high school, he captained his football team, and he worked summers in a steel mill to help pay his way through college. He's an honors graduate of both Harvard College and Harvard Law School. In his career, he has served as a law clerk to Justice William Rehnquist, as an Associate Counsel to President Ronald Reagan, and as the Principal Deputy Solicitor General in the Department of Justice...."

It is a great sign that he clerked for Rehnquist who has been a very good justice...I would only put Scalia above the Chief with Thomas very close or even with Rehnquist. Rehnquist has been a solid trustee of the Constitution, it seems likely that Roberts will be as well. It is rumored that Rehnquist was pushing for Roberts's nomination and I would doubt he would push for someone who would seek to undue the modest move back to sanity that the Rehnquist court has achieved in some very limited areas. Here is more from the address...

"In my meetings with Judge Roberts, I have been deeply impressed. 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. He has profound respect for the rule of law and for the liberties guaranteed to every citizen. He will strictly apply the Constitution and laws, not legislate from the bench."

Well Bush clearly believes that Roberts won't legislate from the bench. I am glad Bush is stating this clearly in his nomination speech. Some may be wonder why Bush didn't make this the center peice of his speech, but I understand the politics of the situation and while it would be nice for the President to take this moment to educate the American people on the virtues of judicial restraint and having justices that will be "trustees" of the Constitution rather than "activists" it is important to set the stage for a reasonable and civil confirmation process and the nomination speech is probably not the place for a lecture on sound judicial philosophy. In the end, Roberts seems like a fine pick and he certainly does not constitute an extraordinary circumstance, so the Gang of 14 Democrats will be hard pressed to argue for a filibuster.

Now let's sit back and see how and when Robert's opponents (NARAL, Schumer, Kennedy, Leahy, etc.) start attacking Roberts. At long last, Kennedy can now have reporters fill in that name.