The following comments were made in 2005 following President Bush’s nomination of John Roberts to the U. S. Supreme Court. The anti-Catholic bias that was apparent towards Roberts was non-existent towards Sonia Sotomayor.
NPR, Lynn Neary: “And he is a Roman Catholic, and that might affect the way he views an issue like abortion, for instance.” To which American University law professor Stephen Wermiel said, “It could make a difference. It could also make a difference in church-state separation issues.”
CNN, “Inside Politics,” Ed Henry: “Roberts is a Roman Catholic and a political conservative. This week on our ‘Faces of Faith’ segment we’re going to examine how his faith might influence his profession.”
Tribune Media Services, Bill Press: “It is absolutely essential to explore Roberts’ religious beliefs as part of the confirmation process…. And those who suggest otherwise should not be taken seriously.”
Slate, Christopher Hitchens: “Why should this question [about Roberts’ faith and the way he might rule] be asked only of Catholics? Well, that’s easy. The Roman Catholic Church claims the right to legislate on morals for all its members and to excommunicate them if they don’t conform.”
NPR, Francis Kissling: “If this pope will intervene in the ways he has already in Europe, it certainly raises the questions for us in the immediate sense of whether he thinks he can tell Roberts how to vote when he gets on the Supreme Court.”
NBC, “Meet the Press,” Mario Cuomo: Regarding questions that Cuomo wanted the senators to ask Roberts: “Are you going to impose a religious test on the Constitution? Are you going to say that because the pope says this or the Church says that, you will do it no matter what?”
