Judge John G. Roberts - A Great Choice for Supreme Court Justice

From the Thomas More Law Center:

ANN ARBOR, MI — The President’s nomination of Court of Appeals Judge John G. Roberts, a solid conservative, to replace the retiring Sandra Day O’Connor, is already causing great consternation among pro-abortion groups and Liberals.

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel for the Thomas More Law Center, a public interest law firm located in Ann Arbor, Michigan commented, “I applaud President Bush for keeping his promise to the American people to appoint judges who will interpret the law and not act as super legislators. Judge Roberts has an impeccable legal career. If there is going to be fight over the President’s choice for Supreme Court, this is a fight worth joining.”

Those opposing the President’s nominee, point to Robert’s legal positions in briefs he co-authored as a U. S. Deputy Solicitor General to overturn Roe v. Wade and the so-called Lemon Test dealing with prayers at high school graduations.

In Rust v. Sullivan, a case dealing with a rule prohibiting federally funded family planning clinics from discussing abortion with patients, Robert’s brief argued the “we continue to believe that Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled.”

In Lee v. Weisman, a case dealing with the constitutionality of prayers at high school graduations, Robert’s brief urged the court to rule that such prayers were constitutional and did not involve any coercion.

Roberts, 50, graduated from Harvard Law School in 1979 and clerked for Judge Henry J. Friendly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The following year he clerked for Justice William Rehnquist. Following his clerkship experience, Roberts served as Special Assistant to United States Attorney General William French Smith. In 1982 President Reagan appointed him to the White House Staff as Associate Counsel to the President, a position in which he served until joining the DC firm of Hogan & Hartson in 1986.

Roberts left the firm in 1989 to accept appointment as Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States, a position in which he served until returning to the firm in 1993. He was appointed to a seat on the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit in May 2003.

Roberts is a practicing Catholic, married with two children.