Any Chance that Chief Justice Roberts might be a surprise?

[WI_DEM]

and be more moderate than Renquist? is so, he would at least balance things out a bit? Just curious.

[neverevergivein]

1. Let me take a stab at this...

Um...no. He's Evil like the rest of them.

[wicket]

3. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[havocmom]

4. Ya did great! Welcome to DU, nevernevergivein!

Gonna enjoy reading more from you :hi:

[WI_DEM]

5. maybe

But I'm not convinced yet that he is as much of a right wing tool as Alito. A conservative for sure, but then so is Justice O' Connor.

[BamaLefty]

2. I'm hoping so

He's going to have to try extra hard to be the ignorant asswipe that Rehnquist was.

[lyonn]

Roberts at least took those stripes off the Robe!!

[AX10]

6. He does not have that hard edge that Renqhist had.

Most likely he is somewhat to the left of Renqhist, more of a mainstream conservative who does not agree with the reactionary social agenda of the Christian Reich (a "Christian Only" nation). However, it seems apparent that Alito is to the right of Scalia (if that is even possible, I guess it is). The Supreme Court will take a hard turn to the right. Big problems are ahead for our nation.

[Junkdrawer]

7. I think Roberts' first priority is protecting corporations and BushCo...

I think he has a less radical social agenda than, say, Alito, Scalia and Thomas.

The current betting is that balance of powers is dead, but the Right to Choose will be whittled away over a 5-10 year period.

Not much better, huh? :shrug:

[mazzarro]

8. I am not holding my breath on this! -- n/t

[sasha031]

9. one of the 1st things he did once he was on the court

is give himself and the other justices a raise.

[WI_DEM]

10. yes, but that is not unrealistic

Many CJ (liberal and conservative) have done this becuz they have felt that the judiciary is under-paid. One of the last things Clinton did was give the President a raise.

[Faygo Kid]

11. It's possible. I had to study Rehnquist's opinions. Yuck.

Law school, early '80s, read many of Rehnquist's opinions. I almost had to laugh when he was so honored as brilliant upon his death; he was often incomprehensible. I do believe Roberts is at least intelligent. I expect him to be a corporatist and anti-worker (no way around that with a Bush appointment), but hope he will not erode civil liberties or countenance the Imperial Presidency. Not much to hope for, I know, but often SC justices surprise. Another Souter? Not likely. Another Thomas? I don't think that, either.

[FormerDittoHead]

12. It's possible if.........

...he wants to judge the cases presented to him based upon the arguments presented and law.

It's entirely possible that the attorneys who represent the interests of:

corporations
the rich
pollution
war
oil
sexual discrimination
economic injustice
racial discrimination
religious radicals and kooks
(did I miss someone else which the right basically supports?)

will assume that he will jerk his knee to the right, and be sloppy in their arguments and not truly present their case with the level that he expects.

If you look at some of the bullshit laws that are passed over and over again in the South in order to bypass Roe v Wade, you'll get an idea of the kind of thinking I'm talking about - like making it illegal to transport someone to another state in order for them to get an abortion...

So, it's entirely possible that, being a lawyer (and a good one, in all fairness), he may find himself compelled to rule based upon the law's true foundations, rather than the idealogical bias which the Right 'trains' their robots to respond to and that the Right will expect.

[punpirate]

13. Roberts smiled a lot...

... Alito doesn't. Big difference? No, I think not. Roberts is the smiley face on Bush's brand of fascism. From Robert Parry:

During the Reagan administration in 1983, Roberts said it was time to "reconsider the existence" of independent regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, and to "take action to bring them back within the Executive Branch."

Roberts called these agencies a "constitutional anomaly," which should be rectified by putting them under direct presidential control.

Roberts's deference to presidential power has been a strand that has run through his entire career - as special assistant to Reagan's attorney general, as a legal strategist for Reagan's White House counsel, as a top deputy to George H.W. Bush's solicitor general Kenneth W. Starr, and as a federal appeals court judge accepting George W. Bush's right to deny due-process rights to anyone deemed an "enemy combatant."

Much more power to the President. Is that what the Founders wanted? The Founders wrote the Constitution in such a way as to prevent that. All these recent jurists proposed by Bush have as their guiding belief the notion that the Executive Branch has to be strengthened--and that they would be happily subservient to that end. What does that say about their belief in the judiciary as an equal power in government? Every one of them--Roberts, Alito and Miers--all came to government first as employees of highly conservative presidents with the aim of increasing, out of all proportion, the power of the President.

Cheers.

[in_cog_ni_to]

14. not-a-chance-in-hell. n/t

[barbaraann]

15. Nope. He's a Charter GOP Death Cult member.

Justices debate case of condemned inmate
By Joan Biskupic, USA TODAY Thu Jan 12, 6:57 AM ET

A majority of the Supreme Court expressed concern Wednesday about blood and semen evidence used to send a Tennessee man to death row 20 years ago, as the court for the first time heard a case in which a condemned inmate claims DNA evidence could help clear him.
...
Chief Justice John Roberts repeatedly tried to bring the justices' discussion back to the relatively dry question of whether House, at this point, can assert that his case was constitutionally flawed.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/justicesdebatecaseofcondemnedinmate

He and Alito do not care about justice or the spirit of the law; they only care about advancing the interests of the powerful. They are fascists.