Bush picks conservative Roberts for Supreme Court

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush has chosen conservative appeals court judge John Roberts as his first nominee to the Supreme Court, igniting what could be a fierce partisan clash over his drive to move the closely divided court to the right.


With Roberts at his side, Bush appealed for a "dignified confirmation process" and a timely vote by the full Senate - in contrast to the drawn out battles that blocked 10 of his most conservative nominees during his first term.


At 50 years of age, Roberts could put Bush's conservative stamp on the court for decades to come if he is confirmed by the Senate to the life-time post.


Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he will not "pre-judge" Roberts. "The president has chosen someone with suitable legal credentials, but that is not the end of our inquiry," Reid said.


The choice immediately sparked controversy.


Abortion rights groups seized on a brief Roberts co-wrote in 1990 that suggested the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion should be overturned. NARAL, a leading abortion rights body, called Roberts a "divisive nominee with a record of seeking to impose a political agenda on the courts."


HUMAN RIGHTS


Roberts was also part of a three-judge panel that handed Bush an important victory last Friday when it ruled that the military tribunals of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, could proceed. The treatment of prisoners there has sparked criticism from human rights groups and in the Arab world.


The quicker-than-expected decision on a replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor could help the White House deflect attention from a growing controversy over the role of Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, in leaking a covert CIA operative's identity, Republican strategists said.


Bush interrupted lunch with the Australian prime minister to telephone Roberts and tell him he wanted him for the job.


Bush made his choice despite pressure from some fellow Republicans - and even his own wife - to name a woman or a minority.


The White House said Bush met five potential nominees from Thursday to Saturday, but offered the job only to Roberts, who is white.


In a nod to his conservative base, Bush said Roberts would "strictly apply the Constitution in laws, not legislate from the bench."


Roberts, who has argued before the Supreme Court 39 times, was a former clerk to Chief Justice William Rehnquist and worked in the Reagan Justice Department.


While a lawyer at Hogan & Hartson, Roberts gave $1,000 to Bush's 2000 presidential campaign, according the PoliticalMoneyLine, which tracks money in politics.


Though he has a reputation as a moderate conservative, liberals suspect he is more right-wing than his record suggests.


He joined the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in May 2003 after a protracted confirmation fight in the Senate.


Interest groups on the right and left have been gearing up for years for a fight over a Supreme Court vacancy. Senate confirmation hearings are likely to begin in September, with the court to open its next session in October.


"I have full confidence that the Senate will rise to the occasion and act promptly on this nomination. It is important that the newest justice be on the bench when the Supreme Court reconvenes in October," Bush said in his White House announcement.


PASSED OVER


Before settling on Roberts, Bush passed over US appeals court Judge Edith Clement, who had emerged as one of the leading female candidates, according to Republican sources.


Bush also passed over his close friend, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who is Hispanic. Some Republicans had questioned Gonzales' conservative credentials.


Sen. Patrick Leahy, ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will first consider the nomination, complained that White House consultations with Democrats fell short of previous administrations.


There has been some reaching to Democrats but certainly not to the extent we saw during the Reagan administration or the Clinton administration," he said.


"Consultation must be more than a one-way street," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat.


Republicans had said Bush was leaning toward picking a woman to replace O'Connor, the first woman on the high court and a moderate conservative who often controlled the outcome on issues like abortion, affirmative action and civil liberties.


Conservatives urged Bush to use the vacancy to push the court further to the right.


Moderate Republicans urged him to choose someone who could assume O'Connor's role as a swing vote between the nine-member court's conservative and liberal wings.


It was unclear what role Roberts will play.


This nomination is unlikely to be Bush's last.


Rehnquist is 80 and battling cancer, although he took the unusual step of issuing a statement saying he will continue at the court "as long as my health permits."


- REUTERS