[Mb-civic] 'I'm Not an Ideologue, ' Roberts Tells Senate Panel - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

'I'm Not an Ideologue,' Roberts Tells Senate Panel

By Amy Goldstein and Jo Becker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, September 16, 2005; Page A06

John G. Roberts Jr. yesterday summed up his Senate hearings to become 
the nation's 17th chief justice by declaring, "I'm not an ideologue," 
brushing aside his early years in the trenches of the conservative 
Reagan revolution as he portrayed himself as a lawyer and judge devoid 
of social agendas.

With his confirmation to the Supreme Court virtually assured by solid 
support among Republicans, who control the Senate, Roberts used the 
closing moments of his 2 1/2 days of testimony to try -- with uncertain 
results -- to soothe Democratic skeptics.

Saying that his loyalties are to the Constitution and "the rule of law," 
Roberts said that he had displayed no ideological bias during his two 
years as a federal appeals court judge and that he had, during 13 years 
in private practice, represented clients on all sides of contentious issues.

Some conservatives were alarmed last month over the disclosure that he 
had helped gay activists win a landmark Supreme Court in 1996. But 
Roberts testified yesterday that he would have been equally willing to 
represent the opposing side, the state of Colorado, if it had asked for 
his help first.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/15/AR2005091501215.html
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