John Roberts v. One French Fry

Beneath his black robes, what does Roberts reveal of his values as a human being?

Comments (0) By Nat Hentoff Tuesday, Sep 6 2005

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When Justice William Brennan came to the end of his 1987 speech to the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, he had no idea that one day the specter of John Roberts would loom over it. But consider John Roberts as you read this:

"The Framers bequeathed to us a vision of rulers and the ruled united by a sense of their common humanity. . . . We cannot console ourselves with the belief that reliance on formal rules alone is ever sufficient to be faithful to the vision of the Framers."

photo: Cary Conover

U.S. District Court Judge Jack Weinstein: He sees the human beings before him.

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And Judge Jack Weinstein, writing of the responsibility of jurists in "When Judges Are Asked to Do Evil," reminds his colleagues on all our courts: "One path is unacceptable: silent acquiescence. The duty to speak up in protest is required of us, the judges, as of every person in this great country who is called on to do evil."

How many such protests—in the interest of justice—are likely from a Chief Justice John Roberts on the Supreme Court during the next 30 years or more?