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Education
Issues
Homosexual Agenda
Judge Roberts' Pro-Life Memos:
Memos Show John Roberts
Praising Criticism of Abortion Decision
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 2, 2005
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- New sets of memos on Supreme Court
nominee John Roberts find the former Reagan administration official praising a former
Attorney General's speech criticizing the right to privacy, the fictitious right
the high court invented to form the basis of the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing
abortion. The National Archives posted new documents about Roberts on its web site
and some of them deal with his tenure as special assistant to Attorney General
William French Smith in 1981.
In a December 1981 memo to Smith, Roberts praised a speech given by
former
Harvard law dean Erwin Griswold that Roberts wrote was consistent with
Smith's
views. The speech criticized the Roe v. Wade decision.
Griswold "devotes a section to the so-called 'right to privacy,'
arguing as we
have that such an amorphous right is not to be found in the
Constitution. He
specifically criticizes Roe v. Wade," Roberts wrote.
"You were quite right that I would find a 'measure of resonance' in
your
lecture," Roberts later wrote in a letter to Griswold on Smith's
behalf.
Roberts, writing for Smith, praised Griswold for sounding "some of
the themes I
have been addressing recently'' about courts "restricting
themselves to the
proper judicial function.''
Another document the National Archives released is a "Draft Article
on Judicial
Restraint'' stating that courts should not "discern such an
abstraction in the
Constitution'' as the "right to privacy.''
Roberts name does not appear on the draft, but a letter is included to
Roberts
from Bruce Fein, an associate deputy attorney general, suggesting an
addition to
"your draft article."
The Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to begin hearings on Roberts on
September 6 and abortion is expected to be a controversial issue. They
will ask
whether the various memos Roberts has written about abortion reflect his
own
views or those of the Reagan and Bush administrations, for whom he
worked.
Source: http://www.lifenews.com/nat1505.html
__________________________________________________________
Stand on Abortion
A
clarification on Judge Roberts’ statements on Roe v. Wade from the
Brian
Fahling, senior trial attorney for the
Fahling noted that as deputy solicitor in the Re
agan Administration, Roberts had argued in a brief that Roe v. Wade should be overturned, but that in his confirmation hearings to the court of appeals, Roberts stated that Roe v. Wade is settled law that he would faithfully apply as a judge. “These are not inconsistent positions,” said Fahling. “They reflect a consistent and principled jurisprudence that understands the principle of authority and the rule of law.”Fahling explained that “as a government lawyer, Roberts could argue that Roe should be reversed, but as an appellate court judge, he held an office under the ultimate authority, by constitutional design, of the Supreme Court. He had no authority to reverse Roe as an appellate court judge, but if confirmed as a Supreme Court justice he will have that constitutional authority.”
_______________________________________________________________________
John Roberts Quote on Assisted Suicide May Provide Insight
by
LifeNews.com Editor
In
a 1997 case, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that no right to
assisted suicide exists, but states could decide whether to allow
assisted suicides to take place.
In
the cases, Washington v. Glucksburg and Vacco v. Quill, the court upheld
laws against assisted suicide in
In
an interview that year with the PBS news program "The NewsHour with
Jim Lehrer," Roberts commented on the rulings.
"I
think it's important not to have too narrow a view of protecting
personal rights," he said.
"The
right that was protected in the assisted-suicide case was the right of
the people through their legislatures to articulate their own views on
the policies that should apply in those cases of terminating life, and
not to have the court interfering in those policy decisions,"
Roberts explained. "That's an important right."
Observers
say the remarks point to Roberts' attitude of judicial restraint -- of
not allowing courts to overturn the will of the people as handed down
through legislation approved by the state legislature.
Pro-life
groups applaud that kind of view, which would typically favor upholding
pro-life laws approved by Congress and state lawmakers.
Roberts'
thoughts on the issue of assisted suicide could foretell how he may rule
on a case the Supreme Court will hear in its next term, starting in
October.
The
state of
Douglas Kmiec, a constitutional law professor and former Justice Department
office under President Reagan, told Knight Ridder news service, "I
think the quote highlights a general theme of his, which is to observe
the separation of powers and the structural aspects of the Constitution
with special care."
"And
I think it's important to point out that this approach is not a formula
for a conservative court or a liberal court. It's just a formula for a
faithfully democratic court," Kmiec added.
"His
quote has very careful phrasing that doesn't commit him to any political
position, and I tend to think there's a whole slice of
Source: http://www.lifenews.com/bio1085.html
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