Administration Urges Court to Strike Down Assisted-Suicide Law

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 5, 2005

Filed at 12:24 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Newly installed Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday sharply questioned a lawyer arguing for preservation of Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law, noting the federal government's tough regulation of addictive drugs.

The 50-year-old Roberts, hearing his first major oral argument since succeeding William H. Rehnquist at the helm of the court, seemed skeptical of the Oregon law, and the outcome of this case was as unclear after the argument as before.