Is he or isn’t he? Only his secret cohorts know for sure. Roberts’ non-denial denial of belonging to the Federalist Society bodes ill for the health of our judiciary once he’s ensconced on the Supreme Court of the United States. Democracy Now! did an interview with John Ross, the man who uncovered Roberts’ membership and involvement with the Federalists. I didn’t know anything about the Federalists, but what I learned in the last day or so has frightened me to my core:
ALFRED ROSS: Well, it’s interesting. A number of conservatives actually were upset with the White House for trying to cover up the connection because they’re quite proud of it. But I think the issue here is the, I believe, correct awareness by the Bush administration’s spin masters, that the majority of the American people would not support the ideology of the Federalist Society, even though admittedly thousands of right wing lawyers are very glad to further their agenda.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, do they take a stance on abortion?
ALFRED ROSS: Well, officially the Federalist Society, as an organization, doesn’t take a stance on anything. But that’s rather a sham. Throughout their literature and at their forums, they endorse not only anti-abortion ideology, but extremist ideology on civil rights, national security law, telecommunications law, and every other issue you can possibly imagine.
(emphasis mine)
Oh, but I’m getting ahead of myself, that exchange came at the end of the interview. I admit, that even though it is again a hot and steamy day in my corner of the world, I am chilled to the bone. Here’s more:
ALFRED ROSS: Well, Roberts, whether he’s paid his dues or not, was prominently listed in the 1997/1998 leadership directory published by the Federalist Society itself. So it is very difficult to believe that he didn’t have any membership. He was on the Steering Committee. The important question is not whether he paid dues as a member or not. The question really at stake here is where does Roberts and his Federalist Society cronies plan to steer our ship of state. If one looks at the history of the Federalist Society, which was established at the inspiration of Robert Bork in the early 1980s, their entire trajectory has been to move our judicial system in an extremely radically right wing direction.
In order to effectuate this, the Federalist Society has established 15 practice groups which you can find on their own website which is fed-soc.org. These 15 practice groups are busy developing new legal theories for every area of American jurisprudence, from civil rights law to national security law, international law, securities regulations law, and so on. And if one goes through the publications of their practice groups, one can only gasp not only at the breadth of their agenda, but the extremism of their ideology.
It is not insignificant that today Timothy Flanigan will have hearings at the Senate Judiciary Committee on his nomination to be Deputy Attorney General of the United States. In the same leadership directory that lists John Roberts on the Steering Committee to the Federalist Society, it lists Timothy Flanigan on the Program Committee of the Federalist Society. And both men have their own personal track records in the right wing of American jurisprudence. In 1987 the Senate Judiciary decided that Robert Bork’s ideology was so far outside the mainstream of American jurisprudence that he was not fit to serve on the Supreme Court. The same kind of strict scrutiny should be applied to John Roberts who is on the Steering Committee of the organization that Robert Bork inspired.
emphasis mine
I stayed out of the fray earlier in the week about whether to pull out all stops in our opposition to Roberts. I’m beginning to think that this is the big one. I always thought that it would be a full frontal assault, but it is indeed extremism by stealth. God help us.
Read the entire Democracy Now! interview here