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By Marshall Manson Posted in Roberts — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

From the Committee for Justice:

“Nothing captures the essence of the current debate over Judge Roberts than the exchange between him and Sen. Biden (D – Del.) earlier today. It revealed the huge divide between those – like Sen. Biden and most of his Democratic Senate colleagues – who believe that the Constitution means what it ought to mean and those – like Judge Roberts – who believe that a judge’s personal or policy views should have no bearing on his rulings.

Specifically, Biden asked Judge Roberts about his personal view on the right to die and whether Roberts believes it is a fundamental constitutional right. Frustrated when Roberts declined to answer, Biden analogized judicial nominees to politicians who have to ‘express[] broadly and sometimes specifically to our public what we believe’ in order to get elected.

Biden’s analogy is the kind of comment one would expect from a layman, not an attorney, no less a U.S. senator. The genius of our nation’s independent judicial branch depends on the fact that judges are not supposed to be like politicians. They are supposed to interpret the nation’s Constitution and laws without regard to their personal views and without having to promise in advance what positions they will take on certain issues. In fact, unlike politicians, judges are supposed to rule on the specific set of facts presented by a case, rather than taking sweeping positions on issues.

Sen. Biden’s distorted view of the role of the judiciary is certainly not unique among his Democratic colleagues. Witness Sen. Feinstein’s (D – Cal.) reply yesterday – after Roberts declined to say whether there is a constitutional right to abortion – that she would find it very hard to vote for a Supreme Court nominee who did not pledge to uphold Roe v. Wade. I fully understand the frustration of Sens. Biden and Feinstein and their liberal activist allies, who have genuinely lost sight of the proper role of the judiciary. From their point of view, it must be maddening when Judge Roberts refuses to make ‘campaign’ promises.

Sen. Biden suggested today that it is not enough for Roberts to be 'a decent, bright, honorable man. Sen. Biden, that is exactly what we should require our judges to be.�

– Curt Levey, General Counsel, Committee for Justice