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Roberts nominated for Supreme Court

Conservative appeals court judge could replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
ROBERTS
This undated photo provided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit shows Judge John G. Roberts, Jr. Roberts is a possible nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. (AP Photo/R. Strauss, Smithsonian, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit)R. Strauss / U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DI
/ Source: msnbc.com

On Tuesday night, President Bush announced Judge John G. Roberts as his pick for the Supreme Court.  If confirmed, the conservative appeals court judge would replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor who plans on retiring.

JOHN G. ROBERTS

Biography

  • Born January 27, 1955 in Buffalo, N.Y.
  • Married to Jane Sullivan Roberts and has two children
  • Serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit since June 2, 2003
  • Worked as a law partner at Hogan & Hartson, 1993-2003
  • Served as principal deputy solicitor general (to Ken Starr), 1989-1993
  • Joined law firm Hogan & Hartson, 1986-1989
  • On associate counsel to President Ronald Reagan, 1982-1986
  • Served as a special assistant to US Attorney General William French Smith, 1981-1982
  • Clerked for then-associate Supreme Court Justice Rehnquist, 1980-1981
  • Clerked for 2nd Circuit Judge Henry J. Friendly, 1979-1980
  • Received his law degree from Harvard in 1979, Magna Cum Laude
  • Received AB from Harvard College in 1976, Summa Cum Laude

Politics behind pick

  • By most accounts, Roberts is a conservative and a member of the Federalist Society
  • Signed on to a brief while in the solicitor general's office, which stated that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided.  It's unclear, however, if this is his own view
  • During his confirmation, prominent Democrats like Seth Waxman, Walter Dellingner, and the late Lloyd Cutler either supported him or said nice things about him
  • He has been confirmed by voice vote and was passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 14-3 vote (Democrats Biden, Kohl, Feinstein, and Edwards voted for him; Schumer, Kennedy, and Durbin voted against him).

Watch each night at 7 p.m. ET on MSNBC.