Subject: RE: John G. Roberts Supreme Court Nomination - Statement from the IAC Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2005 08:59:44 -0500 Message-ID: <376546015E56D640AB10F112B8127DDF029A3E6E@PEPSI.uwec.edu> From: "Wesenberg, Nancy Christine" <WESENBNC@uwec.edu>
You can add to the list this information that another colleague sent me
yesterday. N.Wesenberg
The Dallas Morning News
<BLOCKED::http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stor
ies/072005dnnatscotus.f3627b7.html> says that in the 2000 presidential
campaign recount, Roberts gave "Gov. Jeb Bush critical advice on how the
Florida Legislature could constitutionally name George W. Bush the
winner at a time when Republicans feared that if the recount were to
continue the courts might force a different choice."
________________________________
From: sfpj-request@listserve.uwec.edu
[mailto:sfpj-request@listserve.uwec.edu] On Behalf Of Nowlan, Robert A.
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 5:47 PM
To: sfpj@listserve.uwec.edu
Subject: FW: John G. Roberts Supreme Court Nomination - Statement from
the IAC
FYI.
Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: action.news-bounces+ranowlan=uwec.edu@organizerweb.com
[mailto:action.news-bounces+ranowlan=uwec.edu@organizerweb.com] On
Behalf Of International Action Center
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 11:39 AM
To: Nowlan, Robert A.
Cc: action.news@organizerweb.com
Subject: John G. Roberts Supreme Court Nomination - Statement from the
IAC
Statement from the International Action Center
On the Nomination of John G. Roberts to the Supreme Court
July 19, 2005
Tonight, George W. Bush has signaled his intention to continue his
all-out assault on women, working people, lesbian/gay/bi/trans
communities, civil liberties and civil rights. It is vital that we
examine the nomination of John G. Roberts, and ask how such a
reactionary appointment could be made and, more importantly, how we can
push back the Bush attack and what social and political forces can be
mobilized in the struggle
Judge John G. Roberts has built his career advancing the far-right
agendas of the Reagan and Bush Administrations. He has worked to
overturn abortion rights, blur the separation between church and state,
undermine affirmative action, and advance a narrow right-wing
interpretation of the Constitution.
Roberts is a member of two prominent, right-wing legal organizations
that advance a reactionary legal philosophy: the pro-corporate,
anti-affirmative action, and anti-union Federalist Society; and the
National Legal Center For The Public Interest, a legal research group
funded by General Motors, Ford, Texaco, Exxon-Mobile, and Gulf, as well
as right wing millionaire Richard Mellon Scaife.
Women's Rights
Immediately after President Bush announced his selection of Roberts,
Operation Rescue, an organization founded to terrorize women, obstruct
reproductive freedom, and shut down health clinics, issued a press
release saying, "Operation Rescue supports this selection. Roberts has
shown strong conservative credentials with indications that he will not
uphold Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that decriminalized abortion."
The anti-choice homophobe Gary Bauer promptly issued a statement hailing
Roberts as "a refreshing nominee who possesses an outstanding record of
judicial accomplishment as well as a commitment to judicial restraint
long missing from so many activist courts."
Roberts' record makes it clear why he has gathered such enthusiasm from
far-right religious fundamentalists.
As Deputy Solicitor General, Roberts filed an amicus curiae brief in the
National Organization of Women's (NOW) case against Operation Rescue -
in support of Operation Rescue, and in support of individuals who
illegally blocked access to clinics.
As Deputy Solicitor General, Roberts argued in a brief before the
Supreme Court that "we continue to believe that Roe was wrongly decided
and should be overruled. The Court's conclusion in Roe that there is a
fundamental right to an abortion...finds no support in the text,
structure, or history of the Constitution."
As a Deputy Solicitor General, Roberts co-wrote a Supreme Court brief in
Rust v. Sullivan, which argued that the government could prohibit
doctors in federally funded family planning programs from discussing
abortions with their patients.
Workers Rights
Roberts was lead counsel for Toyota in Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Ky,
Inc. v. Williams. This case involved a woman who was fired after she
asked Toyota for accommodations to do her job after being diagnosed with
carpal tunnel syndrome. The court ruled that while this condition
impaired her ability to work, it did not impair her ability to perform
major life activities.
The Geneva Conventions
Roberts was part of the three-judge panel that last week upheld
President Bush's military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, supporting
the Bush Administrations assertion that the Geneva Conventions and other
international law did not apply to detainees held there. Neal K.
Katyal, a lead lawyer for one of the plaintiffs in this case and a
Georgetown University law professor, called the decision "contrary to
200 years of constitutional law."
Civil Rights
After a Supreme Court decision effectively nullified certain sections of
the Voting Rights Act, Roberts was involved in the Reagan
administration's effort to prevent Congress from overturning the Supreme
Court's action.
Roberts also filed an amicus brief in Adarand v. Mineta in Oct. 2001,
supporting a challenge to federal affirmative action programs.
The Environment
As a member of the Solicitor General's office, Mr. Roberts was the lead
counsel for the United States in the Supreme Court case Lujan v.
National Wildlife Federation, in which the government argued that
private citizens could not sue the federal government for violations of
environmental regulations.
In his private practice, Roberts has also represented numerous large
corporate interests opposing environmental controls. He submitted an
amicus brief on behalf of the National Mining Association in the recent
case Bragg v. West Virginia Coal Association.
Church & State
While working with the Solicitor General's office, Roberts co-wrote an
amicus brief on behalf of the Bush administration, in which he argued
that public high schools can include religious ceremonies in their
graduation programs.
Our response: Organize and Mobilize!
The only effective counter to Bush's continued assault on working
people, people of color, women, and on civil liberties and civil rights
is to organize a massive opposition movement in the streets.
We cannot look to politicians of either party to stop Bush-the Democrats
have been nearly unanimous in their support of the Bush agenda of
endless war and repression, and they have confirmed some of the most
backwards and reactionary judicial appointees.
These next few months are critical in the struggle against the war
abroad and the war at home. The Bush agenda is facing a genuine
crisis-the illegal occupation of Iraq is clearly failing in the face of
overwhelming popular resistance, military recruiting is declining, and
opposition to the war is growing. What we do now can make a difference.
Now is the time to build a massive movement of resistance, a movement
that is broad because it includes, rather than excludes, the struggles
of all oppressed communities.
In challenging the Bush agenda and mobilizing to defend our rights, it
is important to recall how we have secured victories in the past. In a
nation founded on slavery and indentured servitude, genocide against
indigenous peoples, and oppression of women and working people, every
advance was won because of the power of massive peoples' mobilizations
to assert and demand those rights. Regardless of which corporate party
is in power, or which corporate lawyer is appointed to the Supreme
Court, it is the people who ultimately make history.
All of the most important victories for working people, for the civil
rights struggle, for women, for the lesbian/gay/bi/trans communities,
and for all oppressed communities were won because of organizing in the
streets. Victories in the courts and legislatures merely reflected the
reality that was created by the mass movements. It was resistance- the
Montgomery bus boycott, the Stonewall rebellion, the Flint sit-ins for
union rights, the massive marches for women's suffrage, and many other
protests, marches, strikes and direct actions--that secured our rights,
and it is in that spirit of resistance that we must continue to
struggle.
The International Action Center
July 19, 2005
International Action Center