Judge Roberts Has a Right to Say No
—Hugh Hewitt
August 11, 2005

Given the impeccable credentials of President Bush's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge John Roberts, the opposition to Roberts from the left will have to invent some reason to justify obstructing his quick confirmation.

Hard left Democratic Senators immediately signal that they will be asking questions of the nominee that are inappropriate for a member of a separate but equal branch of government and which would compromise the judiciary's independence if answered. Whenever Judge Roberts refuses to answer, these left-wing senators will claim that his non-responsiveness justifies opposition to his confirmation.But they will have a problem. When Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg was nominated to become a justice in the summer of 1993, Patrick Leahy told Judge Ginsburg that he understood her refusal to answer many questions--and every Republican accepted Ginsburg's refusal.

Americans should know such refusals are the tradition of all Supreme Court nominees who appear before the Senate, one we should not now depart from.

link