Thursday, September 29, John Roberts as the 17th chief justice of the United States.
President George W. Bush’s first nominee to the Supreme Court was confirmed in a 78-22 vote, at a time when Christian organizations are concerned about the future of religious freedom in the country.
50-year-old Roberts will be the youngest chief justice in two centuries and positioned to lead the court in the lifetime post for decades, — helping shape the American way of life on matters from civil rights and women’s rights to workers’ rights.
Religious rights activists hope he will be able to also rule on issues such as the right for Americans to recite "under God" in America’s Pledge of Allegiance after a court said this was "unconstitutional."
ROBERTSON "NEEDED"
"If we ever needed [Supreme Court Chief Justice] John Roberts and another Justice just like him to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, in the US Supreme Court it is now," said Brannon Howse, co-host of Christian Worldview This Week, a radio broadcast aired on 225 networks each week.
"If Americans continue to allow humanistic liberals to kick God out of our country, the foundation of our freedoms will be destroyed. Our end will be as President Ronald Reagan warned: "If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under,"" he said, earlier this month.
The Washington based US Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has appealed the September 14 ruling by Judge Lawrence Karlton of Sacramento, California, because millions of school children recite the Pledge every day.
CHILD RIGHTS
"To protect the right for every child to recite the Pledge, we will immediately appeal this decision to the 9th Circuit," said Derek L. Gaubatz, Director of Litigation for The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty earlier this month.
The Becket Fund said it would fight on behalf of 10 California public school students, their parents, "and approximately 1.7 million members of the Knights of Columbus."
Around half of the Senate’s Democrats had opposed Roberts, arguing that he could turn out to be as conservative as the existing Supreme Court justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
SMART LAWYER
"I hope I am proved wrong about John Roberts," said Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy ahead of the confirmation. "I have been proved wrong before on my confirmation votes. I regret my vote to confirm Justice Scalia, even though he, too, like Judge Roberts, was a nice person and a smart Harvard lawyer."
But the Republican Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, reportedly praised the start of the "Roberts era". "For many years to come, long after many of us have left public service, the Roberts court will be deliberating on some of the most difficult and fundamental questions of US law," he added.
During the Senate hearings both Republicans and Democrats were keen for indications on how he may vote on controversial issues, especially abortion cases, although Roberts refused to give hints. Roberts will be sworn in so he can take his seat in time for the new court session on Monday, several news reports said. (With Stefan J. Bos, BosNewsLife Research and reports from the United States).
LOL – That is an odd viewpoint. I am sure I have the same view.