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Roberts is logical
Bush choice for
chief justice

THE ISSUE President Bush has nominated federal appeals Judge John Roberts Jr. to head the Supreme Court following the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

DURING his 33 years on the Supreme Court and nearly 20 as chief justice, William Rehnquist did not waver from his conservative doctrine, while the court moved to the right. The likely confirmation of John Roberts Jr. to replace Rehnquist, who died Saturday night, should not alter the court's approach on legal issues or its mannerly method of conducting business.

Ideological opposites on the high court and elsewhere praised Rehnquist in mourning his death. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Rehnquist "fostered a spirit of collegiality among the nine of us perhaps unparalleled in the court's history" while Bader's fellow liberal Justice Stephen Breyer said the chief "never allowed disagreements about the law to become personal, and the court followed his example."

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, spoke of Rehnquist's "deep imprint on American law." Senator Inouye said Rehnquist ran the court "with a gentle and firm hand. I believe that both conservatives and liberals alike will agree that the Rehnquist court was administered fairly."

President Bush nominated Roberts in July to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The expected vacancy at the top caused concern that the president would elevate Justice Antonin Scalia, a near-replica of Rehnquist on judicial philosophy but regarded as more confrontational. Opting for Roberts to replace Rehnquist is more palatable in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which nipped at Bush's already-diminishing political capital.

The elevation of Roberts' nomination should foster more inquisitive hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senators are combing through thousands of pages of Roberts' writing as an assistant to the attorney general and associate counsel in the White House under President Ronald Reagan.

The White House has refused to provide senators with documents from Roberts' time as principal deputy solicitor general from 1989 to 1993 under the first Bush administration. Those documents would be more likely to reflect Roberts' personal views rather than government policies he was beholden to put forth.

Roberts' recent stint as a judge of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia shows him to be a staunch conservative. However, Democrats will not be able to use ideology alone to block the confirmation of Roberts, who all agree has impeccable credentials and a reputation for geniality.

Inouye was among seven Senate Democrats who made a deal in May with seven Republicans that they would not use the filibuster to block judicial nominations except in "extraordinary circumstances." Nothing has arisen about Roberts that meets that criteria.

The focus will shift to Bush's next choice to replace O'Connor, a Reagan nominee who turned out to be a swing vote between the liberal and conservative factions. The president is under pressure to nominate a woman or a Hispanic to the opening, but he or she, if confirmed, almost certainly will move the court to the right.

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