Roberts to be confirmed as U.S. Chief Justice
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-29 19:54

Roberts told senators during his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings that past Supreme Court rulings carry weight, including the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in 1973. He also said he agreed with the 1965 Supreme Court ruling in Griswold v. Connecticut that established the right of privacy on the sale and use of contraceptives.

But he tempered that by saying Supreme Court justices can overturn rulings.

During four days of sometimes testy questioning by Democrats, Roberts refused to answer questions that would hint how he'd rule on cases, a position that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called "unquestionably right" at a speech at Wake Forest University on Wednesday.

"If the Constitution says that the little guy should win, then the little guy's going to win in the court before me," Roberts told senators. "But if the Constitution says that the big guy should win, well then the big guy's going to win because my obligation is to the Constitution."

Over and over, he has assured lawmakers his rulings would be guided by his understanding of the facts of cases, the law and the Constitution, not by his personal views. "My faith and my religious beliefs do not play a role," said Roberts, who is Catholic.

Roberts' confirmation brings the number of Catholics on the court to a historic high of four. The Roman Catholic Church strongly opposes abortion.

All of the Senate's Republicans showered praise on Roberts. "If being intelligent, brilliant, a superb lawyer, the greatest legal mind of your generation and well qualified is not enough, what is?" said Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee that recommended his confirmation on a 13-5 vote.

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