Release date: 20-Jul-05
Contact: Elaine Justice at 404-727-0643 or elaine.justice@emory.edu

Public Expects Close Questioning of Supreme Court Nominee, Says Emory's Freer

The upcoming confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee John Roberts will likely involve close questioning on specific cases, which is just fine with the public, says Emory University School of Law's Richard Freer.

"The courts have so much influence that people are beginning to see the judicial branch as a super legislature," says Freer. "I think it's legitimate to ask a nominee to give examples of Supreme Court decisions they agree or disagree with, but whether you should ask a nominee how he or she would rule in a particular case is a lot tougher, almost like expecting a campaign promise."

Regardless of the public's desire for close questioning of the nominee, Freer says Roberts is "no Souter" but someone whose "conservative credentials are quite strong. I think he's much closer philosophically to O'Connor than to Scalia. He's certainly not the Democrats' worst nightmare. He's much more like Rehnquist" for whom Roberts clerked in 1980-81.

"Imagine what a pleasure it will be for the chief justice to have on the bench one of his former clerks," says Freer. "Plus, there are few people in the history of this country who have argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court."

Reach Freer at 404-636-3774 or rfreer@law.emory.edu

Emory University is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. For nearly two decades Emory has been named one of the country's top 25 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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