WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' record indicates a jurist whose decisions and written philosophy comes down hard in support of prosecutors.
While Roberts served a principal deputy solicitor general during the presidency of George H.W. Bush, his office became involved in many state cases that took the side of the prosecutors over defendants, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
The high court is scheduled in the October term to hear cases about limiting appeals in death penalty cases, the Miranda warning on rights of people arrested and unreasonable searches and seizures.
Roberts, in an op-ed article that appeared in The Wall Street Journal in 1993, stated that state governments often "find experienced adversaries like the (American Civil Liberties Union) arrayed against them" so Roberts' office wanted to "help ensure that the states are not hampered ... by erroneous constructions of the Constitution."
The U.S. Senate is to take up Roberts' nomination next month. Roberts was selected to replace Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor who on July 1 told President Bush she wished to leave the court.
