I can't wait to see how conservative Republicans react
when the next Democratic president nominates someone to the Supreme Court.
I am so sure they will insist that the nominee cannot be asked any
specific questions about his or her views on affirmative action, gay
marriage, or physician-assisted suicide. No no no. That wouldn't be
right.
Some other questions I would have asked Judge Roberts:
Have you had any contact at all with any poor people in your life?
Given the large number of convictions that have been reversed through DNA testing in the past few years, how can you justify making judgments that make it more difficult-- not less-- for review of capital cases?
Please describe, if you can, how you made a judgment in favor of "the little guy" at some point or another in your career. You can't? Not one? Oh-- because the "little guy" has never, ever been right in any of the cases you've heard...
What can we tell prisoners in Guantanamo Bay to make them feel less upset about being tortured by the good guys, the light of the world, the hope for the future: America?
If you ever travel abroad somewhere, try to imagine something you think you might learn from other people in different cultures? All right-- never mind. If you went to Disney Land and it snowed....
For a man with such a reputation, John Roberts took a somewhat ridiculous position at the Senate confirmation hearings on his appointment as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Roberts basically said that he had no over-arching judicial policy. He was a pragmatist. He simply used the methods most appropriate to the case at hand. Therefore, he is unbiased.
On the contrary, by refusing to espouse a particular judicial philosophy, be it "originalist" or "constructionist" or "majoritarian" or whatever, he keeps his options open. If a particular outcome would favor the president's ability to use torture on those .... what are they? Prisoners of war? No-- Bush denies that. Kidnap victims? Whatever-- in Guantanamo Bay, then he'll use it. If he needs a different judicial philosophy to justify arresting 12-year-old girls with French fries, he'll use that. And if he needs a third philosophy to justify granting gun manufacturers immunity from lawsuits, by golly, he'll use that. The outcome is always the same: whatever favours conservative political and social policy.
If I were a Senator on the Judiciary Committee, I would have asked this question. Sir, you deny that you have an ideology or a particular philosophical outlook on issues that might come before the Supreme Court. You also deny that it is possible for you to discuss how or why you might rule one way or the other on any particular issue that comes before the court. If you were me, what exactly is it that you would like to know about a candidate for the Supreme Court before voting in favour of his appointment. And how, given that you won't answer any questions about how you would rule on anything, would we prevent ourselves from appointing a complete idiot to the position?
You mean like Scalia? Or Thomas? Or Rehnquist?