Spring Break
Judge Roberts and the Unasked Questions of Corporate Power
Ralph Nader
Issue date: 9/15/05 Section: Opinion
With the proper media focus on the horrors of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent preventable destruction by flooding of lives, hopes and jobs, the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this week on the nomination of Judge John G. Roberts Jr. to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States will be fighting for public attention.
That is too bad. Supreme Court nominations are a rare opportunity for millions of Americans to watch, learn and converse about what the Court, the Constitution and the Justices mean for their way of life, their freedoms and their livelihoods.
The expected alignments, called left and right by the press, are hard at work opposing and supporting the nominee.
The odds now are heavily in favor of Judge Roberts becoming Chief Justice. He is experienced, having been a Supreme Court clerk to then Justice William Rehnquist, an attorney in the Reagan White House and a lawyer in the Republican Justice Department who argued cases frequently before the High Court.
He spent more than a decade in corporate law practice at the Washington, D.C. firm of Hogan & Hartson, thereby confirming his acceptance to the business community. He is amiable, outwardly humble, avoids abrasive language and is praised by his lawyer peers as rising above the frays in his lawyerly demeanor.
In addition, the Republicans control the Senate. They have the votes, except to overcome a potential filibuster which is unlikely if only because the Democrats can't deliver all their own Senate votes.
Already, Judge Roberts' most vulnerable side -- relating to questions of the law and corporate power -- is not included in either the Democratic PartyÕs visible focus or in the scheduled twelve witnesses permitted them by the Republicans. Apart from former EPA head under Clinton, Carol M. Browner, none of the other witnesses is likely to touch on regulatory matters, civil justice, corporate criminal law and constitutional issues relating to corporations. There is also the growing double standard in the law's treatment of corporations (artificial persons) in contrast to real people.
That is too bad. Supreme Court nominations are a rare opportunity for millions of Americans to watch, learn and converse about what the Court, the Constitution and the Justices mean for their way of life, their freedoms and their livelihoods.
The expected alignments, called left and right by the press, are hard at work opposing and supporting the nominee.
The odds now are heavily in favor of Judge Roberts becoming Chief Justice. He is experienced, having been a Supreme Court clerk to then Justice William Rehnquist, an attorney in the Reagan White House and a lawyer in the Republican Justice Department who argued cases frequently before the High Court.
He spent more than a decade in corporate law practice at the Washington, D.C. firm of Hogan & Hartson, thereby confirming his acceptance to the business community. He is amiable, outwardly humble, avoids abrasive language and is praised by his lawyer peers as rising above the frays in his lawyerly demeanor.
In addition, the Republicans control the Senate. They have the votes, except to overcome a potential filibuster which is unlikely if only because the Democrats can't deliver all their own Senate votes.
Already, Judge Roberts' most vulnerable side -- relating to questions of the law and corporate power -- is not included in either the Democratic PartyÕs visible focus or in the scheduled twelve witnesses permitted them by the Republicans. Apart from former EPA head under Clinton, Carol M. Browner, none of the other witnesses is likely to touch on regulatory matters, civil justice, corporate criminal law and constitutional issues relating to corporations. There is also the growing double standard in the law's treatment of corporations (artificial persons) in contrast to real people.