Flip-flopper Roberts

So, how confused was he?

"In Roberts’ view, the fatal flaw of the statute was not its substance but rather the remarks of its sponsors, who “stated clearly in the legislative history that their purpose was to return voluntary prayer to schools.” Roberts’ analysis was clearly correct. The Court struck down the Alabama statute solely because of its illegitimate purpose, not out of any general aversion to moment-of-silence laws.

But five months later, Roberts wrote another memo on church-state issues. This time he said he had “no objection” to a constitutional amendment that would allow schools to start the day with silent prayer or meditation. He described the Court’s holding in the Alabama case as “prohibit[ing] such a moment of silent reflection—or even silent ‘prayer,’” and characterized the holding as “indefensible.” Roberts’ analysis here was clearly incorrect."

The Roberts nomination may not be stoppable but it will certainly be bad for the country. But so would any Bush (hswib) nominee. The question before us is how bad is it going to have to get before people want to make it better?