Court Nominee's Life Is Rooted in Faith and Respect for Law - New York Times

An excellent background piece on Judge Roberts which should be required reading for anyone following this appointment process. Kudos to the Times for this in-depth piece of reporting. In what I have read to date, the only negative I've seen is from Justice O'connor. With a picture of her fly fishing in Idaho, her comment was: "He's not a woman." Is she serious or is the comment 'tongue-in-cheek?'

If the quote below is his core belief, he's the right man for the job!

"In his confirmation testimony two years ago, he said that judges should be 'ever mindful that they are insulated from democratic pressures precisely because the framers expected them to be discerning law, not shaping policy,' and added: 'That means that judges should not look to their own personal views or preferences in deciding the cases before them. Their commission is no license to impose their preferences from the bench.'"

Please read David Brooks' column for the solid reasons that he supports Roberts' nomination. Brooks is beside himself with glee for several reasons. summed up by:

" In short, I love thee, Roberts nomination. President Bush has put his opponents on the defensive. He's sidestepped the culture war circus. And most important, he's shown that character and substance matter most."