AddieStan

While the Catholic right continues its attack on every mention of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' religion as an example of "Catholic baiting," along comes the very sober Jonathan Turley of George Washington University Law School, recounting, in today's Los Angeles Times , a troubling exchange between the nominee and Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), one of the four Roman Catholic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. According to Turley, Durbin asked Roberts what he would do "if the law required a ruling that [the Catholic Church] considers immoral." Renowned for his unflappable style in oral argument, Roberts appeared nonplused and, according to sources in the meeting, answered after a long pause that he would probably have to recuse himself. Sounds reasonable? Think again. He's saying he's unwilling to uphold the Constitution if the Church says he shouldn't. Turley also notes the possibility of a Supreme Court deadlocked over key ...

Today Operation Rescue (OR), the militant anti-choice group, issued a press release endorsing the nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court. And well they should. In 1992, when the case of OR activist Jayne Bray came before the Supreme Court, Deputy Solicitor General John Roberts filed, on behalf of the George Herbert Walker Bush administration, an amicus brief supporting Bray's position that the Alexandria Women's Health Clinic could not restrict his activities around the clinic on the basis of a civil rights statute. It was quite the bold move, since Operation Rescue was known for harassing pregnant women and blocking their access to health facilities where abortions are performed. In fact, OR founder Randall Terry deemed one doctor who performed abortions a perpetrator of "crimes against humanity" and said he hoped the doctor would be executed. Furthermore, the government was not involved in the case, and had no compelling interest in it. As noted in the ...