John Roberts the Ideal Pick
Andrew Quinn
Issue date: 9/27/05 Section: Opinions
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John G. Roberts is the perfect choice to take William Rehnquist's place as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He is charismatic, moderate, and disarmingly good-humored. From 1980 to 1981 he served as Rehnquist's clerk. Center-right Rehnquist would come to be a mentor to Roberts, and many of Roberts' early legal opinions would be formed by the time spent with the man he is now appointed to replace.
There is no question that Roberts has the legal experience to be a successful justice. The American Bar Association Committee on Federal Judiciary, made up of 15 sitting Federal judges, voted unanimously to give him a rating of "well qualified," the highest rating possible. But Judge Roberts is exactly the sort of Justice President Bush promised he would appoint during the election campaigns - a true conservative. Judge Roberts is not that which social conservatives both fear and wish Bush to appoint, a "judicial activist." If Judge Roberts has made anything clear during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, it is that he does not seek to change the status quo of our judicial system dramatically. He is a judicial minimalist, neither taking the reactionary strict constructionist views of Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, nor wishing to fabricate entirely new rights of our Constitutional fabric.
If Roberts were merely appointed to be an associate justice, this judicial philosophy would be more than enough to earn the approval of the mainstream of the American people and the Senate. But as Chief Justice, Roberts will have to lead the Supreme Court in making decisions. It is his interpersonal skills, unrivaled on the sitting court, that will make his career as Chief Justice a historical one. His amicable attitude makes him a far better choice than elevating the gruff Justice Scalia to the post. Roberts is the perfect choice to convince the other Justices to agree on a point, thereby reducing the number of controversial 5-to-4 decisions that hurt the credibility of rulings.
There is no question that Roberts has the legal experience to be a successful justice. The American Bar Association Committee on Federal Judiciary, made up of 15 sitting Federal judges, voted unanimously to give him a rating of "well qualified," the highest rating possible. But Judge Roberts is exactly the sort of Justice President Bush promised he would appoint during the election campaigns - a true conservative. Judge Roberts is not that which social conservatives both fear and wish Bush to appoint, a "judicial activist." If Judge Roberts has made anything clear during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, it is that he does not seek to change the status quo of our judicial system dramatically. He is a judicial minimalist, neither taking the reactionary strict constructionist views of Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, nor wishing to fabricate entirely new rights of our Constitutional fabric.
If Roberts were merely appointed to be an associate justice, this judicial philosophy would be more than enough to earn the approval of the mainstream of the American people and the Senate. But as Chief Justice, Roberts will have to lead the Supreme Court in making decisions. It is his interpersonal skills, unrivaled on the sitting court, that will make his career as Chief Justice a historical one. His amicable attitude makes him a far better choice than elevating the gruff Justice Scalia to the post. Roberts is the perfect choice to convince the other Justices to agree on a point, thereby reducing the number of controversial 5-to-4 decisions that hurt the credibility of rulings.
