John G. Roberts, Supreme Court Nominee

Some comments on Roberts from the 1 July 2005 edition of The Washington Post:

--"long been considered one of the Republicans' heavyweights amid the largely Democratic Washington legal establishment"

--practiced law at the D.C. lawfirm of Hogan & Hartson from 1986-89, 1993-2003

--Principal Deputy Solicitor General in Bush41 White House, 1989-93

--served in the Reagan White House as both an aide to the Attorney General, 1981-82, and an aide to the White House Counsel, 1982-86

--attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School

--clerked for Justice William H. Rehnquist

--"the question marks about Roberts have always been ideological"

--"his Republican party loyalties are undoubted, [but] he is not a 'movement conservative', and some on the party's right-wing doubt his commitment to their cause"

--"His paper record is thin"

In my mind, all of these comments (and other information about Roberts that has been published since his nomination) coalesce to demonstrate the potential that the man has an a Supreme Court Justice. Certainly, there is no doubt that the man is an intellectual--a quality highly desired of Justices, in my opinion; however, the question remains whether he is an intellectual in the Antonin Scalia sense (who seems determined to undo any liberal interpretation of constitutional law in the past one hundred years) or whether he is an intellectual in the Sandra Day-O'Connor sense (who judged cases individually without any apparent ideological goals in mind, and who seemed to be the voice of intellectual moderation on the Court).

I certainly believe Roberts can become an effective Justice, but will he be effective because he joins the other ideological conservatives on the Court to confound the course of American jurisprudence? or will he be effective because he becomes the voice of moderate reason--always testing the law on a case-by-case basis, effectively keeping the balance on the Court? At this point, I have no reason to believe the Senate will not confirm Judge Roberts' appointment to the high Court. Let us only hope that Roberts follows the same path as his predecessor rather than just occupying the same seat.