Bush picks judge John Roberts Jr.

Peter Baker and Jim Vandehei, Washington Post

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Bush nominated federal appellate Judge John G. Roberts Jr. for the Supreme Court on Tuesday night, passing over several female candidates to replace the retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in favor of a well-regarded litigator with conservative credentials and friends in both parties.

Bush introduced his choice for the nation’s 109th justice in a prime-time White House ceremony broadcast live on national television after a day of shifting speculation. The president hailed Roberts as a renowned legal figure who would interpret the Constitution and laws rather than legislate from the bench.

"John Roberts has devoted his entire professional life to the cause of justice and is widely admired for his intellect, his sound judgment and his personal decency," Bush said.

Bush added, "He is 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."

Liberal advocacy groups immediately assailed Roberts for his positions on abortion and other issues. However, before the announcement, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., ordered his fellow Democratic lawmakers to offer a more measured response to whomever Bush chose to avoid appearing knee-jerk negative, aides said.

"The president has chosen someone with suitable legal credentials, but that is not the end of our inquiry," Reid said in a statement. "The Senate must review Judge Roberts’ record to determine if he has a demonstrated commitment to the core American values of freedom, equality and fairness."

Roberts, 50, a former clerk to Justice William Rehnquist and a Justice Department official under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, was appointed by the current president to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit two years ago and confirmed by the Senate on a unanimous voice vote. But he made his mark in Washington, D.C., as one of the most successful advocates before the same high court he would now join.

Paper trail

As a successor to O’Connor, a centrist-conservative who cast the swing vote for years, legal analysts expect Roberts to move the court further to the right, but do not consider him among the most ideological of the candidates Bush considered. Often described as steady, even-tempered and fair-minded, Roberts has accumulated a slim record as a judge but has a longer paper trail as a lawyer for the government and in private practice that will surely become the fodder for debate in the coming weeks.

Liberal groups already have called attention to his writings on abortion. As deputy solicitor general in the first Bush administration, Roberts signed a brief on abortion financing that argued in a footnote that Roe vs. Wade should be overturned because it "finds no support in the text, structure or history of the Constitution."

Some allies and analysts caution against reading too much into that because Roberts was reflecting Bush administration policy at the time. At his confirmation hearing for the appellate bench in 2003, he offered a careful answer to the abortion question that likewise is open to interpretation. "Roe vs. Wade is the settled law of the land," he said at the time, adding, "There is nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent."

Bush picked Roberts after interviewing five finalists Thursday, Friday and Saturday alongside White House counsel Harriet Miers, according to aides. Roberts, who has been teaching international trade law in London, flew back to Washington to meet with the president for an hour on Friday. Bush spent much of the weekend consulting with his chief of staff, Andrew Card Jr., then "essentially" decided Monday night, aides said.

Bush telephoned Roberts at 12:35 p.m. Tuesday to offer him the nomination, the aides said. "I just offered the job to a great, smart, 50-year-old lawyer," the president told aides afterward. The judge and his family then joined Bush at the White House for dinner.

In picking Roberts, Bush passed up the opportunity to name his friend, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, as the first Hispanic on the court after conservatives attacked him for being too moderate. And Bush chose not to take the suggestion of First Lady Laura Bush, who publicly advocated that O’Connor be replaced with another woman.

The prospect of filling the first Supreme Court vacancy in 11 years already has mobilized political forces on both sides to raise vast financial resources in preparation for a struggle akin to a presidential campaign. Starting the day O’Connor announced her retirement on July 1, interest groups have been airing television and Internet advertising, blitzing supporters with e-mail and pressuring elected officials to stand strong.

The emerging Democratic strategy is to force Roberts to talk in great detail about his views on issues such as religious liberties and abortion and wait to pounce on his record until the hearings.

"The burden is on the nominee to the Supreme Court to prove he is worthy," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said at a news conference. Yet even Schumer praised Roberts’ character and temperament.

Conservatives who have pressured Bush to fulfill what they saw as a promise to appoint a justice in the mold of Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas pronounced themselves satisfied. "He’s going to be a fabulous justice," said Todd Gaziano, a scholar at the Heritage Foundation. "He’s a very thoughtful person, a very collegial person, a very deliberate person."

Legal career

Roberts, who was born in Buffalo, raised in Long Beach, Ind., and attended private school before earning undergraduate and law degrees at Harvard University, clerked for then-Associate Justice Rehnquist and worked in the Justice Department and White House during the Reagan administration.

After a stint at Hogan & Hartson in Washington, he went to work for President George H.W. Bush as deputy to Solicitor General Kenneth Starr, arguing cases before the Supreme Court. Bush nominated him for a seat on the D.C. appeals court in 1992, but his bid disappeared along with the president’s reelection hopes. Roberts spent the Clinton administration back at Hogan & Hartson before being installed on the appeals court by the Bush in 2003.

Suave, handsome and well-traveled in Washington circles, Roberts is popular in both parties and widely considered among the most talented appellate lawyers of his generation. He argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court and spoke with awe Tuesday about joining the justices he has appeared before so many times. "I always got a lump in my throat whenever I walked up those marble steps to argue a case before the court, and I don’t think it was just from the nerves," he said in the East Room.

Roberts also participated in the Bush vs. Gore case that ultimately ended the recount of the 2000 election and handed the presidency to Bush.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5514164.html