Bush selects Roberts as next chief justice

By Tom Strode - Sep 15, 2005

President Bush has named John Roberts to replace Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who died Sept. 3 after a lengthy illness.

The President announced his selection of Roberts two days after Rehnquist’s death. Bush had nominated Roberts in July to replace Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, 75, who retired after 24 years on the Supreme Court. The President must select another replacement for O’Connor, who said she would serve until the Senate confirms a nominee for her position.

The Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearings on Roberts’ nomination will begin Sept. 12 and are expected to conclude by Sept. 16. They were postponed from their original starting date of Sept. 6 after Rehnquist’s death and Roberts’ nomination as chief justice.

Pro-life, pro-family advocates have given widespread support to Roberts, 50, who has served on the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals since 2003. Though Roberts has not committed himself on the Roe v. Wade opinion legalizing abortion, social conservatives appear content to trust his judicial philosophy, which seems to be based on interpreting the text of the Constitution.

Abortion-rights and other liberal advocacy organizations are pushing senators to oppose the nominee. Barring any unexpected developments, however, it appears the federal appellate judge has the votes needed for confirmation.

Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Richard Land said he “began to wish that John Roberts could have been nominated for chief justice” even before that post came open.

“The more I discovered about John Roberts, the more he reminded me” of Rehnquist, Land said. “I believe that Judge Roberts has the judicial philosophy, depth of conviction and collegial temperament to be a great chief justice of the United States Supreme Court.”

Among the possible nominees who have been mentioned to replace O’Connor either after her retirement or after Rehnquist’s death are: Samuel Alito of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals; Janice Rogers Brown of the D.C. Circuit; Edith Brown Clement of the Fifth Circuit; Maura Corrigan of the Michigan Supreme Court; Miguel Estrada, who withdrew as a nominee to the D.C. Circuit after a filibuster; Emilio Garza of the Fifth Circuit; Alberto Gonzales, U.S. attorney general; Edith Hollan Jones of the Fifth Circuit; Michael Luttig of the Fourth Circuit; Michael McConnell of the 10^th^ Circuit; Priscilla Owen of the Fifth Circuit, and J. Harvie Wilkinson of the Fourth Circuit.

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