Expert Comment on U.S. Supreme Court Nominee

John Roberts

from the University of Pennsylvania Law School

July 20, 2005

Nathaniel Persily, a law and political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, researches, writes and teaches about constitutional law, election law and politics

"The right wing has every reason to believe that President Bush has followed through on his promise to appoint a justice like Antonin Scalia, and the left wing will have difficulty explaining what in Roberts's record makes him unconfirmable.  In some respects, the battle that lies ahead is as much about what the confirmation process should mean rather than whether Roberts is qualified to be on the Supreme Court.  Democrats will likely press Roberts to reveal how he will vote on the great constitutional questions of the day, while all should expect he will do what previous nominees have done: refuse to take a position on any issue likely to come before the Court or defend his position in cases in which he was representing a particular client."

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