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Chief Justice nominee John Roberts (L) shares a light moment with Senator Joseph Biden (D-DEL) during a break in Roberts’ Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 14 , 2005. During yesterday’s session, Roberts declined to say if he would reverse the long-standing decision legalizing abortion but said he believed the Constitution accorded Americans the right to privacy, the key underpinning of the landmark ruling.

The Washington Post has Roberts Says He’ll Decide Cases by Law.

Chief Justice nominee John Roberts said Wednesday that the law, not his own personal views, would be his guide in deciding right-to-die cases that might come before the Supreme Court.

At the same time, Roberts stopped short of providing his specific views on the issue _ as he has steadfastly done on other contentious subjects in three days of confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. That left Democrats chafing.

“We are rolling the dice with you judge,” said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., who made no headway in extracting Roberts’ personal feelings about when to decide to end life supports for an ailing family member.

Senator Slow Joe Plagiarist Biden would not be happy with any Republican nominee to the court. His ploding drudge of long-winded rhetoric is an embarassment to the United States Senate.

Republicans in the GOP-controlled Senate made it clear that President Bush’s choice was on a smooth path toward confirmation to a lifetime job, and they challenged Democrats who might oppose Roberts’ nomination to be the nation’s 17th chief justice.

“If people can’t vote for you, then I doubt that they can vote for any Republican nominee,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

A persistent Biden sought Roberts’ opinion on whether any law could trump the right to die, but the nominee would say little more than his oft-repeated response that it would be inappropriate to comment on a case that he might decide.

“There are cases that come up exactly in that context … before the court,” Roberts said. “I will confront them with an open mind. They won’t be based on my personal views. They will be based on my understanding of the law.”

What more does the Senate want?

Judge Roberts is an excellent choice for Chief Justice.

The Senate Judiciary Committee should spare the country more rhetorical largess of Senators lhogging television time but saying NOTHING…….vote him out of committee, let the Senate confirm him and let Roberts get started for the first Monday in October.

Technorati Tags: Supreme Court, George Bush, John Roberts

The ASSociated Press has Redistricting proponents break with governor, form own campaign.

A key supporter of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s redistricting measure announced plans Tuesday to form an independent, nonpartisan campaign supporting Proposition 77 – largely over fears the measure will fail if tied directly to Schwarzenegger’s other Republican-backed ballot initiatives.

Bill Mundell, a Southern California businessman who donated more than $300,000 to help qualify the redistricting measure for the ballot, said his new group would operate separately from the governor’s California Recovery Team in support of the initiative.

Flap supposes Bill Mundell finally GOT it.

The Governor has already won the November California Special Election – With or Without Proposition 77.

The move comes on the same day the California Recovery Team announced that Steve Poizner, a Silicon Valley billionaire and Republican candidate for Insurance Commissioner next year, will head up the Schwarzenegger-backed committee also pushing Proposition 77.

Flap supposes more money is talking here and, of course, MORE POLITICAL AMBITION.

Poizner has more of a chance to win in November 2006 against Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamonte for California Insurance Commissioner than Mundell has over incumbent U. S. Senator Dianne Feinstein.

The proposition, one of three “year of reform” initiatives that Schwarzenegger helped put on the ballot for a special election Nov. 8, would strip lawmakers of their power to draw Congressional and state legislative boundaries, handing the job to a panel of retired judges.

Mundell, a Republican likely to challenge Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2006, said Prop. 77 will only succeed if voters believe it is a nonpartisan effort to restore fairness to the political system.

“We don’t want to be lumped into an overall opposition attack on the special election,” he said. “We feel Prop 77 is the most fundamental of all the reform initiatives, and our biggest fear is that it gets swept into a neat box of partisanship.”

But Pat Caddell, a longtime Democratic consultant who serves on the board of Californians for Fair Redistricting, was more blunt, saying Schwarzenegger’s largely Republican group of advisers had hijacked the measure and undercut its goals.

“I think Schwarzenegger does care about democracy, and there are Democrats who would support a legitimate redistricting initiative that would put the people first,” Caddell said. “But his people have undercut this thing from day one, and the way they are going, they will certainly sink it.”

Proposition 77 has a long way to go. It may be sunk in any case.

The latest Field Poll has it losing by 14 points.

But, the good news for a fair redistricting and apportionment is that another initiative petition could be circulated for the November 2006 ballot..

This split does nothing to increase the measure’s passage and remember whether it wins or not in November the measure will be ultimately decided in the California Supreme Court due to the FLAP over flawed circulated initiative petitions.

Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Recovery Team, California Special Election, Bear Flag League, Proposition 77

Cross-posted to the Bear Flag League Special Election Page