Roberts: a "rather cramped view of the Voting Rights Act"
AP reports: After days of Democratic deference to John Roberts, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy said Thursday that documents made public so far indicate the Supreme Court nominee holds a "rather cramped view of the Voting Rights Act."
Materials that Roberts drafted while at the Justice Department and White House counsel's office during the Reagan administration "certainly raise some questions in my mind about his commitment" to civil rights, said Kennedy, D-Mass.
Kennedy's remarks showed a willingness to raise pointed questions when most other Democrats have stuck to pleasantries about Roberts' credentials ahead of his confirmation hearings. ...
At the time, Congress was considering an extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act against the backdrop of a Supreme Court ruling that held that "proof of intent" was needed to demonstrate someone's rights had been violated.
House Democrats sought legislation to change so election results would be sufficient.
In a draft opinion article he sent to a county commissioner in San Antonio, Roberts wrote that the proposal would "not simply extend the existing and effective Voting Rights Act, but would dramatically change it. ... It's not broken so there's no need to fix it."
In another document, Roberts, then working in the White House, wrote that legislation designed to overturn a different Supreme Court ruling would "radically expand the civil rights laws to areas never before considered covered." He recommended against it.
In a third, he wrote that the administration could "go slowly on housing legislation" without fearing political damage. -- AP Wire | 07/28/2005 | Kennedy questions Roberts on civil rights