7-27-05, 10:36 am
Why would Judge John G. Roberts lie about being a member of the Federalist Society (FS)? Along with several major news organizations, Political Affairs reported that Judge Roberts was a member of the arch-conservative lawyers’ and judges’ association. Roberts demanded that these major news organizations retract their stories saying he had no memory of being a member of the FS.
Roberts’ protests notwithstanding, the Washington Post reported earlier this week that not only was Roberts a member, but he was a leader of the Washington, DC local chapter of FS at least in 1997 and 1998, perhaps one of the most important chapters in the country. Surely, Roberts can’t simply chalk up denying such a vital role in such a controversial organization to a memory lapse.
His confirmation process hasn’t begun yet and he already has trouble with the truth.
So why is Roberts’ membership in the Federalist Society so controversial that he'd try to cover it up?
FS was founded in 1982 by a small clique of right-wing law students and lawyers – including Robert Bork, Edwin Meese, and William Rehnquist – who wanted to push the country’s judiciary to the right, and since has grown into one most powerful legal associations in the country.
Prominent members of FS who served or currently serve in the Bush administration, include former Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, Interior Secretary Gale Norton, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, former Solicitor General Theodore Olson, and current Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff. Newly appointed federal judge William Pryor and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia are also members.
None of these FS members could be said to favor upholding current Constitutional law. All of these people, in one area or another, have fought to overturn, undo, or eliminate federal protections for civil rights, women’s reproductive rights, privacy rights, the Constitutional separation of church and state, federal protections for the environment, safety and health regulations, and more.
Last November, FS hosted a conference to boost US imperialism and the Iraq war and voicing anti-UN views that included presentations by a number of Bush administration extremists, including John Bolton, John Negroponte, and Paula Dobriansky. Bolton especially denounced the International Criminal Court and critics of US unilateralism.
FS believes in changing the US legal system by promoting far-right legal positions and influencing who becomes judges, top government officials, and decision-makers. Many members of FS advocate a rollback of civil rights measures, reproductive choice, and generally support conservative morality being enshrined in federal and state laws. FS favors public school privatization.
This network of extremism that counters the carefully crafted public image of Roberts as a 'non-controversial' candidate is the basis for Roberts’ convenient memory lapse. Roberts’ connections warrant serious examination by the Senate. His thin but glaringly ideologically motivated record and his struggle with honesty demand opposition to his being seated to a lifetime position on the US Supreme Court.
Contact Leo Walsh at pa-letters@politicalaffairs.net.
