Habemus Papam Saeculi!

Roberts, a strict constructionist, is described by friends as "one of the nicest guys I've ever met. Devout but light-hearted, a devoted husband, and the doting father of two adopted children." Leiberman has already stated that he may be acceptable. One thing is for certain: he will test the 'extraordinary circumstances' clause for the Gang of 14. How long can the moderates punt this one down the field? They may have to take a stand! If Roberts stays true to his stated principles, it may deal a serious blow to judicial activism for the immediate future.

Unfortunately, this won't be enough to overturn Kelo vs. City of New London, as the departed Justice O'Conner wrote the principal - not principled - dissent in that dreadful decision to allow the seizure of private homes for private profits.

There is also some question over how he might rule over you-know-what. During his confirmation to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the apply-named Sen. Dick Durbin - yes, the same compared Club G'itmo to Soviet Gulags and Nazi death camps - questioned Roberts on Roe. "I'll be bound to follow the Supreme Court precedent regardless of what type of constructionist I might be," Roberts responded. Although his may indicate that he regards the 'right' to an abortion as a constitutional issue already settled by the court, I would be hesitant to agree. What I believe it actually shows is a respect for the law and for the judicial process. A judge on the Court of Appeals, for which he was applying, should not overturn what SCOTUS has already settled. This is precisely the characteristic we should demand in a justice - willingness to subordinate personal legal opinions to the laws as set out in the Constitution and as passed by the legislative bodies. Of course as one of the black-robed Nine, he may be required to revisit that decision, which would be above and beyond what he has stated before. Given the tenuous legal reasoning behind Roe, it's a safe bet that any strict constructionist worth his salt might alter the big case.

The lay investiture of Roberts wil bestow on him the judicial authority passed down through Apostolic Succession from Chief Justice St. John Marshall. Well see how he speaks ex cathedra.

"We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final." - Justice Robert H. Jackson

post scriptum: The humour in this post was intended at the quasi-divinely appointed authority invested in supreme court justices, not at how Mr. Roberts will perform as a justice. The fact that Roberts is a practicing Catholic will itself constitute 'extraordinary circumstances'. The libs won't say this, masking their bigotry towards any form of traditional Christianity behind phrases like 'his deeply-held beliefs' and so forth.