Roberts at a Glance
John Roberts has been a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for only two years and was a corporate law firm lawyer for most of his career. He has a sparse public record, making it difficult to evaluate his fitness for the Supreme Court. Where he does have a record, however, Roberts fails to show a commitment to fundamental civil and constitutional rights, both in his role as a Deputy Solicitor General and judge.
School Desegregation
Roberts argued that Congress could pass a law preventing all federal courts from ordering busing to achieve school desegregation under any circumstances, a position even more extreme that that advanced by Theodore Olson and adopted by the Reagan Administration. (Memo from John Roberts, 2/15/84)
Access to Justice
Roberts argued that even the Supreme Court could be stripped of the authority to consider cases on abortion, school busing and public school classroom prayer - a position to the right of Theodore Olson and Robert Bork.
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Employment Discrimination
Roberts derided affirmative action, maintaining such programs were bound to fail for requiring the "recruiting of inadequately prepared candidates."
At the Dept. of Justice in 1981, Roberts objected to the Dept. of Labor's continuing enforcement of a bipartisan executive order calling on government contractors to practice affirmative action, calling such policy the promotion of "offensive preferences."
Later, as acting Solicitor General, Roberts directed the federal government to oppose the FCC's affirmative action plan regarding the treatment of applications for new broadcast licenses.
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Voting Rights
After the US House, by a 389-24 vote, passed a bill restoring the Voting Rights Act's prohibition on practices with discriminatory effect, Roberts helped lead administration opposition to the bill, which passed in the Senate overwhelmingly.
(The legislation was motivated by the Supreme Court decision in City of Mobile v. Bolden, which upheld a system that effectively kept blacks off the Mobile city council.)
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Immigrants' Rights
Roberts criticized a Supreme Court ruling striking down a Texas law that had allowed school districts to exclude children of undocumented immigrants. (Washington Post, 7/27/05)
Civil Liberties
In a recently-decided case brought by a Guantanamo Bay prisoner, Judge Roberts joined a ruling holding that the government could try terrorism suspects without granting them basic due process protections. (Opinion in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 2005)
Religious Liberty
Roberts lauded Chief Justice Rehnquist's dissent in a Supreme Court decision that overturned an Alabama law authorizing public school sanctioned moments of silence for prayer or meditation, calling the ruling "indefensible."
Roberts had no problem "on the merits" with Education Secretary William Bennett's description of Supreme Court interpretations of the Establishment Clause, which Bennett believed represented "a hostility to religion."
As deputy solicitor general, Roberts urged the Court to uphold school sponsored prayer at graduation ceremonies and eliminate a key Supreme Court protection of government neutrality toward religion.
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Women's Rights and Gender Discrimination
Roberts supported a radically narrow view of Title IX, arguing that educational institutions receiving federal aid should not be barred from discriminating against women in programs not specifically receiving the aid.
Roberts argued victims of sexual harassment by government officials under Title IX were not entitled to monetary damages (his view was rejected by a unanimous Supreme Court - including Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas).
Roberts urged against attempting to enforce equal access to prison training programs in Kentucky, arguing that giving women the same opportunities as men was too expensive.
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Discrimination in Education
In 1982, Roberts criticized the Supreme Court decision ruling unconstitutional a Texas law designed to block undocumented immigrant children's access to public education; Roberts complained that the Reagan administration should have weighed in on the case to uphold the Texas law.
Roberts also contended that Congress could pass a law preventing all federal courts from ordering bussing to achieve school desegregation.
As deputy solicitor general Roberts urged the Supreme Court to reverse an appeals court ruling and order the partial termination of a school district's desegregation decree.
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Discrimination in Housing
While in the White House, Roberts sought to slow progress on combating discrimination in housing. He argued that the administration should "go slowly" on proposed fair housing legislation, claiming that such legislation represented "government intrusion.
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Sex Discrimination
Roberts argued that the Justice Department should not intervene on behalf of female prisoners who were discriminated against in a job-training program, contradicting even the views of extremely conservative Civil Rights Division head, William Bradford Reynolds. (Washington Post, 7/27/05)
Rights of the Disabled
Roberts criticized as "judicial activism" a court's order requiring a sign-language interpreter for a hearing-impaired public school student. (Washington Post, 7/27/05)
Rights of the Accused
Roberts sought to expand the ability of prosecutors and police to question suspects out of the presence of their attorneys. (Washington Post, 7/27/05)
Reproductive Freedom
In a 1990 brief as deputy solicitor general, Roberts urged the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade (the case to which the brief referred did not directly involve the landmark ruling).
While in the same position, Roberts argued that the federal courts had no role to play under then-existing federal law in upholding the rights of the staff or patients of women's health clinics that were being infringed upon by unruly and sometimes violent protestors.
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Environmental Protection
As a judge, Roberts authored a dissent arguing that the Endangered Species Act may be unconstitutional as applied in that case. Worse, this case indicated that he may subscribe to the very dangerous new "federalist" views of limited congressional power to protect the environment and the rights of individual Americans. (Dissent in Rancho Viejo, LLC v. Norton, 2003)
Executive Power
In a 1983 memo, Roberts indicated that it was time to "reconsider the existence" of independent regulatory agencies, like the FCC and FTC, placing such power exclusively in the President's hands.
As an appellate judge, Roberts found that the Geneva Convention provisions were not enforceable in court and that the President's decision to suspend those provisions for "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo was non-reviewable. He voted to uphold the current Bush administration's military commissions.
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Excessive Arrest Procedures
Roberts ruled against a 12 year-old girl who was handcuffed, arrested and taken away by police for eating a single French fry on the D.C. Metro, even though an adult would only have gotten a paper citation in that situation. (Opinion in Hedgepeth v. WMATA, 2004)
Privacy
Roberts' record strongly suggests he believes the Constitution does not protect the right to privacy, referring to a "so-called right to privacy" in a 1981 memo.
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