Roberts & the 'Apex of Presidential Power'

By Nat Parry
September 6, 2005

What’s at stake with the Supreme Court confirmation of John Roberts, especially with George W. Bush poised to name a second justice, is not only how the United States deals with abortion and other social issues but whether the President will be granted broad authoritarian powers over the nation’s future and the civil liberties of people worldwide.

While much of the focus on Bush’s choice of Judge Roberts has centered on his life-long conservative ideology, including his hostility toward women’s rights, a sleeper issue has been Roberts’s support for giving the Executive nearly unlimited authority, at least when the White House is held by a Republican.