Judge John Glover Roberts of the DC Circuit has been appointed to the US Supreme Court by President George W. Bush.

NAME - John Glover Roberts Jr.

AGE-BIRTH DATE - Jan. 27, 1955, in Buffalo, N.Y.

EDUCATION - BA, Harvard University, 1976; JD, Harvard Law School, 1979.

CAREER - Nominated by President Bush on Jan. 7, 2003, to U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; confirmed by Senate on May 8, 2003; principal deputy solicitor general, U.S. Justice Department, 1989-93; private practice, Washington, D.C., 1986-89, 1993-2003; associate counsel to President Reagan, White House Counsel's Office, 1982-86; special assistant to attorney general, U.S. Justice Department, 1981-82; law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice William H. Rehnquist when he was an associate justice, 1980-81; law clerk for Judge Henry Friendly, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, 1979-80.

FAMILY - Wife, Jane; son, John, and daughter, Josephine.

QUOTE - "Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land. ... There's nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent."

Two things I would like to point to in this brief profile.

First, the quote from the confirmation hearing is not what it appears to be. As a lower court judge, Roberts lacked the capacity to overrule Roe. As a member of the Supreme Court, it would be within the scope of his authority to engage in a fundamental reexamination of a case which even its supporters admit is a train wreck (7-2 as to the result, but no decision garnering majority support as to the source of the right -- in other words, "we say it is a right, but we can't begin to authoritatively say why.") Whether Roe is eventually affirmed or overturned, there needs to be a significant rethinking of abortion jurisprudence.

Second, some might note that Judge Roberts has only two years of judicial experience on the DC Circuit. This is not a problem. A number of justices have never served as a judge prior to their nomination to the high court. Others have had only minimal judicial service -- including Justice Thurgood Marshall, the greatest Supreme Court litigator of his generation (I've heard similar statements made about Roberts tonight), whose time as a judge on the Second Circuit consisted of only about three-and-a-half years judicial service before he resigned to become Solicitor General.

Not a bad pick, all things considered. While I might have preferred a different candidate, I am inclined to give Jufge Roberts my full support, barring some truly troubling disclosure during the confirmation process.

A great listing of blogs about the Roberts nomination can be found at Blogs For Bush.

Posted by: Greg at 04:35 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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