Debate over the Supreme Court confirmation of John Roberts appears to be settling into three topics: his stand on abortion rights, his stand on affirmative action, and the availability of certain documents related to his tenure as deputy soliciter general under Bush 41. Despite being a conservative, Roberts may be the best choice for the left when it comes to abortion rights. His belief in precedent seems to signal an unwillingness to change court decisions that have already been published, even if he disagrees with those decisions. It's unlikely the left will get another nomination from this administration that will take that view.
The availability of documents is going to be an interesting debate. The administration is claiming attorney / client privalege and is withholding the requested documentation. The extreme left (read: Ted Kennedy) is using this refusal to show Roberts' lack of cooperation with the senate - a tactic that has doomed more than one Supreme Court nominee. Time will tell on this one. How critical this issue becomes will really depend on how comfortable the 14 centrists in the Senate are with Roberts. They ultimately hold the key to his confirmation.
Roberts' position on affirmative action is most interesting - and one The Grape fully supports. In the case most often cited, Roberts criticized an FCC ruling by saying it was, "far from clear that the interest in promoting 'programming diversity' is sufficiently compelling to justify the use of racial classifications that would otherwise infringe upon equal protection rights." Judge Roberts is right on the mark, here. Affirmative action is blatant discrimination needs to be treated as what it is - a violation of the concept of equal rights. There was a time when the protections of affirmative action might have been justified, however that is no longer true today. This form of discrimination should no longer be tolerated in our society. Kudos to Judge Roberts for recognizing that, and here's hoping that a Supreme Court Justice Roberts will be instrumental in outlawing this archaic practice.
Technorati: politics news Roberts
IceRocket: politics news Roberts
No comments :
Post a Comment