As we mentioned last week, our own Judy Appelbaum was one of several attorneys who briefed reporters last Friday on important cases that Judge Roberts worked on while in the Solicitor General’s office from 1989 to 1993. Senators have requested documents about Roberts’s work on these cases, but so far none of that information has been released to the public. The briefing was carried live on C-SPAN, and you can watch it using RealOne Player here (if that link doesn’t work, go here and click on “Alliance for Justice Briefing on John Roberts”).
NPR also reported on the press briefing, quoting Judy on two points. First, the report quoted Judy saying that Roberts’s own words show why the Solicitor General documents are so important:
“In a May 5, 1993 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, he said that who the Solicitor General decides to support—which cases, which side—can play a significant role in shaping what the Supreme Court does.”
It also quoted Judy pointing out that Roberts argued in a case called Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools that girls who were sexually harassed in school should not be able to sue for damages under Title IX if the school ignored the problem:
“The Supreme Court in that case emphatically and unanimously disagreed. But had the John Roberts position prevailed, there would be no remedy at all for victims of sexual harassment like [Christine Franklin, the plaintiff in that case].”
You can listen to the NPR report using WindowsMedia by clicking here.
