The next Supreme

BY EB-R

Now that we know who the nominee is, what do we know about him and his ideas for the court? While on the D.C. court of appeals, Roberts had a dissent that went against environmental protection. In one case (Rancho Viejo, LLC v. Norton) he stated that the Endangered Species Act was unconstitutional. Others judges that heard this case (that were appointed by Reagan and the first Bush) all disagreed with Judge Roberts. Roberts also sought to have Roe overturned with a case that had nothing to do with the validity of Roe (Rust v. Sullivan). In Hedgepeth v. Wash. Metro., Roberts opinion was that it was fair to arrest a 12 year old girl for eating a French fry on the metro when an adult would have only been given a citation according to D.C. law. I will admit that these are only the 3 of his total of 9 on record for Roberts but they are the 3 that stuck out to me as red flags. Roberts is a safe pick for Karl Rove (we all know he runs the show) because his record is sparse at best and therefore there will be only a few things in print that he can be questioned about during confirmation hearings. It is the Senate’s job to make sure that Roberts is not just rubber stamped through this process and that they press for real information about his personal views. He could possibly sit on the most powerful court in this country and we should know more about his opinions on real issues. No matter what your issues are, ask your representatives to ask the hard questions and get the tough answers.