160 law professors (including tax profs Linda Beale (Illinois) and Neil Buchanan (Rutgers-Newark)) sent a 10-page letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday opposing the confirmation of Judge Roberts to the Supreme Court. Here is the opening:
As law professors from across the United States, we write to express our opposition to the confirmation of Judge John Roberts to the United States Supreme Court. The record made available to date suggests that Judge Roberts holds a limited view of Congress’ authority to enact key worker, civil rights and environmental protections and a similarly narrow view of the vital role our courts and our government play in safeguarding individual rights, especially civil and women’s rights. In contrast, Judge Roberts holds an expansive view of presidential power and law enforcement authority. If transformed into decisional law, these views, taken together, could produce a government with little power to protect its citizenry and a citizenry with greatly reduced power to protect itself from the abuses of government and other powerful interests. In other words, they could produce a national order contrary to the promises of our Constitution and the rights it guarantees.
For blogosphere and MSM commentary on the letter, see:
