Miriam Raftery

"There are real and serious reasons to be deeply concerned about John Roberts' record," Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) told bloggers in a conference call Monday evening.

Kennedy expressed dismay at the Bush administration's refusal to turn over documents from Roberts' tenure as Solicitor General, when he was directly involved in decisions on 300 cases and worked on a thousand more.

"We asked for 16," Kennedy said, "but this administration has provided nothing."

Kennedy's call was a tangible example of the growing role the progressive blogosphere is having in Washington, as senators and others reach out to push their agenda into the realm of online opinion-setters.

The Massachusetts Democrat said he believed Republicans were "setting up the expectation that he doesn't need to answer any questions," asserting that the nominee has an obligation to inform the committee of his stands on Constitutional freedoms.

"I voted against him for the D.C. Circuit Court primarily because he didn't answer these questions," Kennedy said.

Roberts spoke for just ten minutes, without notes.

"I have no platform. Judges are not politicians who can promise to do certain things in exchange for votes," he said. "Judges are like umpires. They don't make rules, they apply them."

But some Democrats insisted that Roberts should answer questions about his judicial ideology.

"To me the pivotal question, which will determine my vote is this: Are you within the mainstream -- albeit the conservative mainstream -- or are you an ideologue who will seek to use the court to impose your views upon us?" asked Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY).

Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) urged Roberts to disclose his views on the right to privacy.

"It would be very difficult for me to vote to confirm someone to the Supreme Court whom I knew would overturn Roe v. Wade," she said, referring to the 1973 Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion.

If the Senate confirms Roberts' nomination as Chief Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court, Kennedy says fifty years of progress to protect Americans' rights could be eroded.

"I will ask extensively his views regarding civil rights, voting rights, and the right to privacy -- especially removal of barriers for women, minorities and the disabled," he told bloggers. "If there's one thing that could implode this nomination, it's privacy."

Privacy rights include far more than a woman's right to choose. If the Supreme Court were to rule that no right to privacy exists in the Constitution, laws legalizing contraceptives could be overturned, as could laws governing the privacy of medical records, financial records, sexual conduct and personal medical decisions, as the Schiavo case illustrated.

Roberts would replace the late William Rehnquist as Chief Justice. A second opening on the court to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor gives President Bush the opportunity to create a conservative majority on the Supreme Court -- a prospect that strikes fear into the hearts of progressives.

People for the American Way President Ralph Neas expressed a more dramatic view, saying Roberts "may be the most dangerous nominee of all." Roberts' social skills and personable style make him well suited to persuade the crucial "fifth vote" on the high court to side with conservatives, he added.

"What that means is that more than 100 Supreme precedents will be overturned," Neas said. Laws to provide clean air and water, privacy rights, equal opportunities for women and minorities, reproductive health rights, and rights for the disabled would all be at risk.

"Roberts is the darling of the religious right, but even more, he is the darling of the corporate business community," Neas added.

Liberals fear that Roberts may lead the Court to overturn the interstate commerce clause, which has been interpreted previously to uphold FDR's New Deal and a strong central government.

Kennedy says the need for a strong central government has been tragically demonstrated by Hurricane Katrina. The "powerful winds of Katrina" expose inequalities in American society, the senator asserts.

"Our country was founded on the guiding principal that we are created equal," he remarked. "That's relevant today."

Roberts is widely expected to be confirmed. To date, no senator has publicly indicated that he or she will cast a dissenting vote. Neas, however, says the left has a "strong chance" of derailing his nomination.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote next week, with a full Senate vote anticipated by October.

"We've got some incredible priorities domestically and internationally now, but our biggest domestic priority is what happens with the Supreme Court," Neas concluded. "It will determine what happens over the next 20 or 30 years."

Correction: The President of the People for the American Way is Ralph Neas, not John Neas, as reported in the first edition of this article.

Originally published on Tuesday September 13, 2005.