John Roberts Confirmed as Chief Justice of U.S. Supreme Court: Lambda Legal Disappointed but Gearing Up for Next Nominee

(New York, September 29, 2005) — Statement by Lambda Legal Executive Director, Kevin Cathcart on the confirmation of John Roberts as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

“We firmly believe that a clear commitment to fairness and equality for all Americans is one important qualification for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, and we are disappointed that John Roberts was confirmed as chief justice without being required to demonstrate that he has that commitment. Judge Roberts was given every opportunity to do so at his confirmation hearings. Nonetheless, looking to the future, we sincerely hope that lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and people with HIV will have a fair hearing before the court that he now leads.”

“What was remarkable about the Roberts hearing was how prominently LGBT civil rights questions figured into the proceedings overall — it was unprecedented. And it sets a great standard looking forward to the next nominee.

“Once the next nominee is announced Lambda Legal will take the same approach we did with John Roberts. We will carefully review any material relevant to our community’s core issues of concern and work to insure that during the Senate hearing the nominee is asked about, and addresses those issues.

In late August, in anticipation of John Roberts’s confirmation hearings, Lambda Legal delivered 30 questions to the Senate Judiciary Committee; the questions were designed to determine whether Roberts had a commitment to fairness and equality for all Americans, including LGBT people and people with HIV. The substance of many of those questions were posed to Roberts during the hearings. Read the questions.