'Influence of Faith' Enters Picture During Roberts' Confirmation Hearings

by Jody Brown and Bill Fancher
September 14, 2005

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(AgapePress) - The man nominated to be America's next chief justice is getting high marks from conservative leaders who say he is remaining "dignified" in the face of questioning from liberal senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

During committee hearings on Tuesday, California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein raised questions about the influence John Roberts' Catholic faith might have should he be confirmed to replace the late William Rehnquist. Harking back to President John F. Kennedy's vow not to let his presidency be ruled by the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, the liberal lawmaker said to Roberts: "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute. My question is: do you?"

Roberts indicated the question was not an easy one to answer. "Well, I don't know what you mean by 'absolute separation of church and state,'" the chief justice-designate responded. "For example, recently in the Ten Commandments case, the court upheld a monument on the Texas Capitol grounds that had the Ten Commandments in it. They struck down the posting of the Ten Commandments in a Kentucky courthouse."

Roberts suggested that Supreme Court decisions on the Ten Commandments and other religious issues have been confusing. But he believes the First Amendment requires that "no one should be denied rights of full citizenship because of their religious belief or lack of religious belief."

And he acknowledged that the Supreme Court has struggled to balance the First Amendment's religious protections. "There is a tension of sorts between the establishment clause on the one hand, and the free exercise clause on the other," Roberts stated, "and the court's cases in recent years have tried to consider when [does] an accommodation for religious belief ... go too far and become an establishment of religion."

Judge Roberts said his Catholicism would not compel him to, for example, overturn Roe v. Wade -- a fear voiced by many who have opposed his nomination from the start. "There is nothing in my personal views, based on faith or other sources, that would prevent me from applying the precedents of the court faithfully," he said, adding that when it comes to judging, he looks to law books for guidance -- not to the Bible or other religious sources.

Conservative Kudos So Far
Jan LaRue is chief counsel for Concerned Women for America (CWA). She says she feels good about Roberts' responses thus far.

"We firmly believe that Judge Roberts' statements and opinions demonstrate his unequivocal belief in and deference to the text of the Constitution and the intent of the Founders," she says in a press release. "[His] expressed opinions on gender equality, comparable worth, and other so-called women's issues are entirely consistent with the Constitution's equal protection guarantees."

Gary Bauer

Gary Bauer of American Values says Roberts has done well during questioning before the Judiciary Committee. "He effectively implemented the White House strategy, which was to not answer questions about his specific views," Bauer observes. "I have serious questions about whether, long-term, that is the right strategy -- but my hat goes off to him for having done it well, and for frustrating the liberal senators that wanted to try to trip him up."

The tactics being employed by those liberal senators, says Bauer, is no surprise to the nominee's supporters or to Roberts himself.

"These liberals in the United States Senate care about the right to abort children all nine months of the pregnancy more than anything else," the American Values director says. "The only other issue that's a close second place is that these liberal senators fear more than anything that a child might actually pray in school or see a copy of the Ten Commandments."

Wendy Wright

And Wendy Wright, executive vice president for CWA, has a problem with Senator Feinstein's faith-related questions, saying they "slyly implied" that a Christian would have difficulty being chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

"[Senator] Feinstein is dipping her toe into the very ugly, muddy waters of religious bigotry," Wright says. "It is precisely this kind of anti-Christian religious litmus test that many Americans find deeply offensive."

Wright notes that America was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, and that the nation's founders considered religious beliefs to be an asset for those holding public office. But Feinstein, says the CWA official, evidently believes the opposite.