Not like their word is worth much to begin with:
WASHINGTON (AP) - If confirmed to the Supreme Court, John Roberts would not be bound by his past statement that the 1973 decision legalizing abortion is settled law, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday.
Roberts testified before Congress in 2003 that he considers the Roe v. Wade decision “settled law.” At the time, he had been nominated for the seat he now holds on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
But Gonzales, in an interview with The Associated Press, said circumstances had changed. “If you’re asking a circuit court judge, like Judge Roberts was asked, yes, it is settled law because you’re bound by the precedent,” Gonzales said.
“If you’re a Supreme Court justice, that’s a different question because a Supreme Court justice is not obliged to follow precedent if you believe it’s wrong,” Gonzales said.
There has been discussion (by Atrios, I think) about whether Roberts’ remark about “settled law” would apply if he gets into The Supremes. The opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which reaffirmed Roe, was written to suggest that even the Supremes should not change the principle that a woman is entitled to a legal abortion (in the first and second trimesters? I don’t remember). Of course there is no way that opinion could actually prevent later change — new Supremes can always overrule the old ones — but there is a kind of boat anchor feeling to the text of that opinion.
And I personally think that is what Roberts meant at the time. Now he’s weaseling out, in my opinion.
Not like I really know, of course.
if he doesn’t have to worry about precedent when he’s a supreme, would that mean he was then making law? would that make him an activist judge?
Gonzales is talking to the right wing base here. Keeping them thinking that Roe v. Wade is actually under threat.
It ain’t.
If the Republicans overtuen Roe v. Wade, they will have no carrot to wave in front of the evangelicals. The evangelicals don’t give a damn about the rest of the conservative platform. Give them Roe v. Wade, and they will go home and stop voting Republican.
Never gonna do it.
antifa: i pretty much agree that roe-v-wade ain’t goin nowhere, but i dunno that it’s the only carrot the righties hold. there’s still an attack on christianity in america. there are still plenty of books to ban, commandments to post, prayers to be said, gays to be condemned, professors to be picketed, judges to be intimidated, taxes to lower, women to return to the home, birth control to be outlawed…
ouch. my fingers are tired.