Education Station

Hello, blogworld! Recently I posted elsewhere about the need for us all to be informed citizens and to educate ourselves on issues before forming opinions. Specifically, I was referring to the recent nomination by President Bush of Judge John Roberts for the open spot on the Supreme Court. I said that we shouldn't let the media or our personal convictions filter this down into a one-issue confirmation hearing, and we should educate ourselves about Judge Roberts before we decided that he was either a brilliant choice or another judge sure to send this country to hell in a handbasket. To help you out in educating yourself, I created this blog wherein I will link to court opinions written by Judge Roberts. Read them yourself and then decide.

A word of advice on reading the decisions: do not base your opinion of Judge Roberts on whether or not you think the result was fair. The important thing is to look at how he reached the decision--did he apply the law, did he apply the correct standard of review, is he consistent from one case to another. That will tell you what kind of decisions you can expect from him should he be confirmed. Don't condemn him OR support him, for example, just because you don't think it's fair (or because you do think it's fair) that the defendant's car was searched, or that the evidence of his prior uncharged criminal act was admitted in his trial--if that's the law, and Judge Roberts applied it correctly, then he's doing his job.