WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 - President Bush nominated Judge John G. Roberts Jr. today to replace Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, whose death late Saturday opened a second vacancy on the Supreme Court and a new front in the ideological battle over the judiciary.
The chief justice died just days before the Senate Judiciary Committee was preparing to convene hearings Tuesday on the nomination of Judge Roberts, of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The hearings will be the first in 11 years for a Supreme Court nominee. Judge Roberts was a former clerk for Chief Justice Rehnquist.It was not clear how the announcement would affect the proceedings.
The Republican leadership in the Senate signaled that it would almost certainly alter its schedule for the confirmation hearings for the seat being vacated by Justice O'Connor, providing time to honor Chief Justice Rehnquist and acknowledging the extraordinary political climate in Washington after Hurricane Katrina.The chief justice's death brought to an end a nearly two-decade era in which he managed the court's consideration of incendiary social issues like abortion, the implications of rapidly changing technology, the ever-present clash between the powers of states and the federal government, and raw political battles, including the 2000 presidential election.Chief Justice Rehnquist's body will lie in repose in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court all day on Tuesday and on Wednesday morning, the court's public information office said. The family will hold a private service at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington on Wednesday afternoon, followed by burial in Arlington National Cemetery.The death seemed unlikely to lead to any fundamental alteration in the balance of the court. Chief Justice Rehnquist - unlike Justice O'Connor, who has been a swing voter on the most contentious issues - was a stalwart conservative. Mr. Bush was expected to choose someone from the same mold to replace him, though he had been under some pressure to choose a Hispanic or a woman rather than a white man. President Bush made today's announcement in the Oval Office with Judge Roberts at his side, saying that with just four weeks left before the Supreme Court reconvenes, it was in the interest of the court and the country to have a chief justice on the bench on the first full day of the fall term.Chief Justice Rehnquist died Saturday night at his home in Arlington, Va. He was 80 and had been serving on the court for 33 years, the last 19 as chief justice."He was a man of character and dedication," Mr. Bush said during an appearance Sunday morning in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, recalling how the chief justice, rendered frail by illness and treatment, had mustered the strength to swear him in for his second term on Jan. 20. "His departure represents a great loss for the court and for our country."Although Chief Justice Rehnquist had been battling thyroid cancer for nearly a year, the White House, members of the Senate and his fellow justices had no warning that his condition had become dire in the past few days, officials said. Justice David H. Souter said he was "flabbergasted" by the news of his death.
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LINK
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/politics/politicsspecial1/05cnd-scotus.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1125929734-dvYpASvFVR4iry8EK+0o5Q&pagewanted=printPrayers for the Dem's to grow a spine...now.
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