Roberts could unify, televise court -Specter
By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – If John Roberts is confirmed as U.S.
chief justice, his Supreme Court might reverse tradition and
permit its proceedings to be televised, a top Senate Republican
said on Tuesday.
“I think that Judge Roberts may have a real chance to bring
the court together based on the personality which I have seen,
if he is confirmed,” said Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen
Specter.
“And I think he may have a little different view about
television, something that I have advocated for more than a
decade in the court,” said Specter, of Pennsylvania. “He’s a
new generation.”
If confirmed by the Senate, Roberts, 50, a federal appeals
court judge the past two years, would become one of the
youngest U.S. chief justices in history.
Roberts would replace Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who
died on Saturday at the age of 80 after a long bout with
cancer. Rehnquist ruled the court with a firm conservative
hand.
“Judge Roberts has projected a very unique persona as he
has talked about modesty and humility,” said Specter, whose
committee will open confirmation hearings on Monday.
Despite Specter’s words of praise for Roberts, he has said
he has not decided if he will vote for him and plans to ask the
nominee some tough questions at the confirmation hearing.
Specter noted that the court has had a number of divided
decisions in recent years with sharply conflicting opinions by
opposing justices.
“I would hope that the chief justice would work for
consensus,” Specter told reporters.
“I think there needs to be a collegial, modest approach to
try to bring the court together so that we have some idea of
continuity and what these decisions mean and their staying
power,” Specter said.
On a personal note, Specter recalled, “I argued a case in
the Supreme Court a few years back and Chief Justice Rehnquist
ran a stopwatch, interrupted in mid-sentence.”
“The word is, he was looking for a way to interrupt
somebody in the middle of the word ‘if,”‘ Specter said.