Roberts' ruling in Bush's favor debated
Terrorism case came as White House was interviewing him
There's no dispute that chief justice nominee John Roberts met with high-level White House officials while his appellate court was considering a case of enormous importance to the Bush administration, on the president's power to try battlefield captives and foreign terror suspects before military commissions.
There is considerable dispute, among legal ethics experts as well as supporters and opponents of Roberts, about whether his contacts amounted to a conflict of interest that should have disqualified him from the case.
"A reasonable person might question his impartiality when he sat on an appellate panel that directly and widely expanded the president's powers'' while he was under consideration by the president for a seat on the Supreme Court, said Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents military detainees, in testimony opposing Roberts' nomination.
This isn't a theoretical question about how his beliefs might shape a court opinion. This is a real life situation that has occurred, and at least IMHP, should disqualify him. He should have disqualified himself, but he didn't!
If you are still on the fence about Roberts, this should knock you off.
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