Jeffrey Toobin on Justice Roberts: Conservative "even more than Scalia."

[usregimechange]

Roberts’s record is not that of a humble moderate but, rather, that of a doctrinaire conservative. The kind of humility that Roberts favors reflects a view that the Court should almost always defer to the existing power relationships in society. In every major case since he became the nation’s seventeenth Chief Justice, Roberts has sided with the prosecution over the defendant, the state over the condemned, the executive branch over the legislative, and the corporate defendant over the individual plaintiff. Even more than Scalia, who has embodied judicial conservatism during a generation of service on the Supreme Court, Roberts has served the interests, and reflected the values, of the contemporary Republican Party.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/25/090525fa_fact_toobin?currentPage=all

[Skittles]

1. Roberts is a repuke whore

[rgbecker]

2. With nice hair.

[DrToast]

8. Definitely a sleeper agent.

[Bobcat]

3. Roberts

Justice Roberts is obviously a tool. He is a mere caricature of what a Supreme Court Justice should be. No gravitas - all superficial politics. When the history of this era is written it will be a shitstain on American History!

[Winchesterboys]

4. duh

moment toobin

[Metta]

5. Roberts lied to Congress and should be impeached.

About being independent of Bush, for starters.

[OwnedByFerrets]

9. Hell, they wouldnt even discuss impeachment of a war criminal...

they don't bat an eye at lying.

[Metta]

12. True. Happy karma to them all.

One can't wink at corruption and think themselves impervious. The bucket fills is even drop by drop.

[Thrill]

6. That guy fooled several Dems. Even Feingold. Thats why I trust Obama on his nominee

Obama even though Roberts had taught at the same school as him, didn't fall for his bullshit

[omega minimo]

14. Feingold didn't seem fooled.

[Thrill]

15. He was fooled. He voted for him.

I remember being shocked when him and Leahy said Yes. The Dems were acting in love with the guy. Put up no fight. None.

[omega minimo]

18. Didn't Feingold speak out about the Unitary Executive? You're right, it was a shocker.......

[w4rma]

7. Worse than and younger than Scalia. (nt)

[santamargarita]

10. That's one piece of Bush damage that may not go away anytime soon.

:puke:

[usregimechange]

16. Yep, hope we can counter

[spanone]

11. an activist judge...typical repuke speak; accuse the opposition of exactly what YOU are doing

[omega minimo]

13. I find that insane gleam in his eye a bit distracting.

[Jennicut]

17. And yet all the MSM is saying "don't pick a liberal activist".

These aholes are conservative activists. What is the difference?

[LiberalFighter]

19. There is a way to castrate Roberts so his vote is immaterial.

Obama replaces all vacancies on the court with nothing less than moderates. Of course, we all want them to be as liberal as possible.

Obama needs to be re-elected in 2012 so he has a chance to fill 6 of the 9 seats. With any luck it might even be 7. After reviewing Thomas's age it is very possible for Thomas to retire during Obama's 2nd term.

And after posting below it is in the realm of possibility that Alito could also retire since he will hit 65 before 2016. I checked and found that there were very very few justices that died while in office. Considering that they receive a very good pension whenever they retire after 65 I see possibilities.

Age after 1st term -- Age after 2nd term -- Justice

92 -- 96 -- Stevens
76 -- 80 -- Scalia
76 -- 80 -- Kennedy
73 -- 77 -- Souter **Already announced
64 -- 68 -- Thomas
79 -- 83 -- Ginsburg
74 -- 78 -- Breyer
57 -- 61 -- Roberts
62 -- 66 -- Alito


Now should everyone other than Thomas, Roberts and Alito I see that those 3 will feel very impotent and Roberts even more so since he is the chief justice. Maybe a few hairs will be thrown at Thomas by the new justices and he will storm out of there. Especially, if one of them is a woman justice doing the throwing. That would then leave Roberts and Alito with Alito waiting until he hits 65 to retire while Roberts wanting to get out sooner so he can make a fortune in the private sector. He has been complaining about salaries judges make.

Term of the Supreme Court is from October to June or July. I'm not sure how to view it. But it appears that the justices that have hired their clerks for the next term will be around until at least June of next year. Maybe Stevens and/or Ginsburg will announce this year yet.

Another factor that could play in irritating the hell out of the conservative justices. If new justices are young enough to do it differently then what the Thomas, Roberts and Alito think it should be done.

[CK_John]

20. Roberts is money motivated and will be moving up and out soon. IMO.

[Bluenorthwest]

22. I happen to agree with that

He is not happy.

[PlanetBev]

21. Bullshit

I don't believe for one second that the Dems were fooled. They knew exactly what Roberts was. After all, look who nominated him.

Giving Roberts a pass was easier than fighting to keep him off the court. The Democrats of today are a bunch of invertebrates. Very different than the Democrats who succeeded in keeping Robert Bork off the bench in 1987.

[Vattel]

24. Well-said.

Roberts history as a right-wing ideologue was well-known. Under Reagan he fought to get rid of the exclusionary rule! He would prefer our courts to particiapte in and encourage violations of our constitutional rights by using illegally obtained evidence in court.

[Blue_Tires]

23. as predicted...

sadly, there were a LOT of "keep your powder dry" and "don't make bush nominate someone even worse" folks here and in the media back in '05