On The Supreme Court

I've never had a summer this long, and it's getting kind of boring. So despite not having posted anything in a while I figured I'd give it a shot.

About a month ago, President Bush chose John Roberts to replace the recently retired Sandra Day O'Connor. I have mixed feelings about O'Connor's tenure on the Court, and her so-called pragmatism, but she was a federalist and for the most part interpreted the Constitution in accordance with the dichotomy set out by Article 1 and the 10th Amendment.

It's hard to get a feel on Robert's positions, because he's only been a judge for two years and because those decisions were probably written with a confirmation fight on his mind. But all the standard opinions seem to indicate he's in the Rehnquist mold. That means we should get a fairly originalist and conservative justice.

Will Roberts be a good justice? I don't know but I expect him to be as federalist as O'Connor, and hopefully more in tune with the Constitution on issues such as abortion, gay rights, and religion. I don't see him being the next David Souter. And given NARAL's obscene ad opposing his confirmation, how could I not support him?