sws4420
09-05-2005, 09:49 AM
Move would promote a man still being considered as an associate justice
WASHINGTON - Moving swiftly, President George W. Bush said he will nominate John Roberts to succeed William H. Rehnquist as chief justice of the Supreme Court.
The move would promote to the Supreme Court’s top job a man who currently is being considered as one of eight associate justices.
Naming Roberts for chief justice was about the only way to ensure all nine seats on the court are filled when it begins its next term Oct. 3. If the court began a new term with only eight justices, it could have resulted in 4-4 ties on controversial cases.
The president made the announcement in the Oval Office before leaving for another trip to the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast.
Bush met with Roberts at the White House on Sunday evening for about a half an hour and then offered him the top position at the Supreme Court on Monday morning, an administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because Bush had not announced his selection, told The Associated Press.
Paper shuffling
Bush already had nominated Roberts to fill the seat of retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. It would just take a little paper shuffling to change the nomination for Rehnquist’s seat.
The president still wants Roberts to be on the bench when the Supreme Court resumes its work on Oct. 3, the official said. That means Bush would have to find a new nominee for O’Connor’s seat. She has offered to remain on the bench until a successor is seated.
Rehnquist, 80 at his death late Saturday, served on the Supreme Court for 33 years and was its leader for 19 years.
Rehnquist, a World War II Army Air Corps veteran, will be buried in a private ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery alongside his wife, who died in 1991, following a funeral that morning at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington.
His body will lie in repose in the marble Great Hall of the Supreme Court building on Tuesday and on Wednesday morning with the public invited to pay its respects.
Five members of the court have lain in repose there: Chief Justices Earl Warren and Warren Burger, and Justices Thurgood Marshall, William Brennan and Harry Blackmun.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9215790/
WASHINGTON - Moving swiftly, President George W. Bush said he will nominate John Roberts to succeed William H. Rehnquist as chief justice of the Supreme Court.
The move would promote to the Supreme Court’s top job a man who currently is being considered as one of eight associate justices.
Naming Roberts for chief justice was about the only way to ensure all nine seats on the court are filled when it begins its next term Oct. 3. If the court began a new term with only eight justices, it could have resulted in 4-4 ties on controversial cases.
The president made the announcement in the Oval Office before leaving for another trip to the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast.
Bush met with Roberts at the White House on Sunday evening for about a half an hour and then offered him the top position at the Supreme Court on Monday morning, an administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because Bush had not announced his selection, told The Associated Press.
Paper shuffling
Bush already had nominated Roberts to fill the seat of retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. It would just take a little paper shuffling to change the nomination for Rehnquist’s seat.
The president still wants Roberts to be on the bench when the Supreme Court resumes its work on Oct. 3, the official said. That means Bush would have to find a new nominee for O’Connor’s seat. She has offered to remain on the bench until a successor is seated.
Rehnquist, 80 at his death late Saturday, served on the Supreme Court for 33 years and was its leader for 19 years.
Rehnquist, a World War II Army Air Corps veteran, will be buried in a private ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery alongside his wife, who died in 1991, following a funeral that morning at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington.
His body will lie in repose in the marble Great Hall of the Supreme Court building on Tuesday and on Wednesday morning with the public invited to pay its respects.
Five members of the court have lain in repose there: Chief Justices Earl Warren and Warren Burger, and Justices Thurgood Marshall, William Brennan and Harry Blackmun.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9215790/