Reid, Ensign taking different stances on Roberts

Benjamin Grove

Friday, Sept. 9, 2005 | 9:24 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada's senators are taking starkly different stances on Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, who faces confirmation hearings next week.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., emerged from a half-hour private meeting with Roberts on Thursday, saying Roberts is "extremely well qualified" to be chief justice.

Ensign said he has no doubt that Roberts would be an effective chief, despite having no experience serving on the court. Roberts has the right temperament, organizational abilities and "people skills" needed for the job, Ensign said.

Ensign and Roberts did not talk about specific issues, such as Roberts' stance on civil rights, or his writing that abortion rights are based on a "so-called" right to privacy.

The two discussed Roberts' judicial philosophy, Ensign said. Specifically, Ensign obtained Roberts' pledge that he is committed to running a court that views its job as interpreting, not making, laws, Ensign said.

Ensign said he also pressed Roberts on whether he was more committed to the following the Constitution or relying on judicial precedent.

"He said, 'Well, you take an oath to defend the Constitution and not judicial precedent,' " Ensign said.

But he said Roberts was quick to note that judicial precedent was vitally important and that overturning precedent could only be done very carefully, Ensign said.

While many Republicans have given Roberts warm praise, Democrats, led by Minority Leader Harry Reid, have been deliberately skeptical of the nominee. They have been careful to promise a thorough grilling of Roberts.

Individual Democrats have not said how they will vote. Reid, D-Nev., said he is relying on the hearings to help him decide his stance.

Reid has said he has "some concerns" about Roberts, especially his stances on civil rights and women's rights.

Democrats are seeking more documents from the White House related to 16 cases Roberts was involved in as principal deputy solicitor general from 1989 to 1993. They believe the documents will shed much light on Roberts' stances on key issues, including civil rights. White House officials say the documents are protected by attorney-client privilege.

Democrats say their questions -- and Roberts' responses -- take on a whole new level of importance now that President Bush has nominated him for chief justice, instead of as a replacement for Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Meanwhile Reid and other top Democrats are again urging President Bush to engage in "meaningful consultation" with them on potential nominees to replace O'Connor.

"We hope that the process of filling the O'Connor vacancy will unfold in a stronger spirit of bipartisanship. We hope and expect that you will engage in frank and open discussions with Democratic Senators regarding your intentions for filling this vacancy," Reid and several other Democratic leaders wrote to Bush on Thursday.

Consultation should be more than "window dressing," the senators wrote. The goal is to work with Democrats to identify a nominee who would win broad Senate support, they wrote.

Ensign said Bush, in picking Roberts, had offered more consultation with Democratic leaders than ever before.

"But ultimately it is the president's decision and the president's decision alone," Ensign said. "That's part of what elections are about in this country."