Notable Quotes, Sept.-Oct. 2005

Lillian BeVier discussed the John Roberts confirmation hearings on the Sept. 14 "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," saying that Roberts "does not claim to have an overarching philosophy, except a philosophy of pursuing the rule of law and staying within the confines of the judicial role. He is a gradualist perhaps in the sense that he would only very reluctantly expand that judicial role —and so he has a great deal of respect for precedent and clearly intends to be guided by that." She said that "he would be a very excellent leader in terms of all the values that the court ought to embody—judicial temperament, a brilliance, an ability to understand the issues."

In an Oct. 17 Austin American-Statesman article about a homicide defendant's plans to plead insanity, Richard Bonnie estimated that the insanity defense is successful in only about one-fourth of 1 percent of felony cases nationwide. When presented with a battle of the experts over whether the defendant knew the difference between right and wrong, he said, juries will side with the prosecution.

Rosa Brooks suggested in a Sept. 4 Washington Post article about Supreme Court appointments that the White House might "use the second nomination as an opportunity to regain political capital by doing something statesmanlike, such as appointing someone who will appeal to both sides." In the Sept. 10 Toronto Star, Brooks commented on the media "discovery" of American poverty in Hurricane Katrina's wake. "This has the potential to be a watershed moment," she said. "Just as the Pentagon quite smartly embedded reporters with soldiers in Iraq to ensure they get the soldiers' point of view, Katrina embedded hundreds of reporters in poverty, watching poor people suffer in the dark." Brooks also continued her weekly commentaries in the Los Angeles Times, writing on topics such as the Roberts confirmation hearings, the correlation between religiosity and social dysfunction, and the Senate's passage of a bill outlawing "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment in the war on terror. In her Oct. 29 column, Brooks wrote about how the focus on the Iraq war death toll "obscures both the intensity and the full human cost of the war in Iraq. Because we focus on death tolls, we forget that the war in Iraq has also left thousands of American soldiers permanently disfigured and disabled."

In an Oct. 11 Associated Press story about a pending Supreme Court case on the scope of government authority to regulate wetlands, Jonathan Cannon said that a ruling limiting government power could jeopardize other environmental laws that protect endangered species and drinking water.

In a Sept. 21 Roanoke Times story about the Virginia attorney general's investigation of complaints of price gouging by gas stations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Michael Dooley advised against a rush to judgment. "We ought to be a little cautious about how we react to an increase in prices," he said.

Kimberly Emery was quoted in a Sept. 25 Charlottesville Daily Progress article about the Legal Aid Justice Center's renovations of a historic house as a home for its new pro bono program. The house on Preston Avenue, built by an African-American resident in 1926, is "such an integral part of the Charlottesville community," she said, and noted the house's story is one "of incredible perseverance and chasing after a dream that we want for our own clients."

Risa Goluboff and Richard Schragger wrote an article on judicial attitudes towards the Constitution and federal power for the Sept. 7 issue of Slate magazine. "To the conservative jurist," they wrote, "the federal government is inevitably something to be feared; they assume that centralized power only leads to a loss of liberty. This crabbed and hostile view of the role of federal government has been in evidence throughout the Katrina debacle." They compared this with the New Deal vision that "federal power is used to protect the weak and the vulnerable rather than harm them." Writing that the view of limited federal powers "invokes nostalgia for an agrarian society with individualistic values of self-reliance that may never have existed, and that certainly disappeared entirely more than a century ago," they urged that senators ask Roberts "whether the Constitution should be read as a document that has as one of its aims the promotion of the general welfare—as the Constitution's preamble states."

In an Oct. 24 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers's views on Roe v. Wade, John Harrison noted that statements that Miers would abide by the text and history of the Constitution "are coded language for someone who might overturn Roe."

A. E. Dick Howard was quoted in several stories about changes in the Supreme Court. In the Sept. 4 Washington Post, he said that William Rehnquist's successor "has a very high mark to follow. Ideology aside, it's going to be difficult to run the court any better than he did. We will look back on the Rehnquist court as one of the smoothest in the court's history." In the Sept. 7 Richmond Times-Dispatch, Howard said President Bush's rapid decision to nominate Roberts gave Bush a chance "to appear decisive and in command, by acting promptly to fill this seat." In a Sept. 20 Voice of America story, Howard said, "The more critical seat from the standpoint of the court's lineup is Justice O'Connor's seat. She was a conservative, but a more moderate conservative. She was often the critical vote in five to four cases. She played a role of somewhat pulling the court to the center." In an Oct. 4 St. Petersburg Times article on Harriet Miers, Howard said that Miers "has done some credible things, but they don't catapult her to the national stage. The question is, can she rise from the world of detail to the grand ideas of the Constitution?" In an Oct. 6 AP Online story about Miers, he added that her experience "might make a wonderful staff person, but do they make a great Supreme Court justice?"

John Jeffries was quoted in the Sept. 4 Washington Post on the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist. "You can't identify anyone who's had more to do with the revival of federalism than Bill Rehnquist," he said. "That means not only limits on federal legislative power, but also that state legislative power ought to be respected." In the Sept. 11 Houston Chronicle, Jeffries said that John Roberts was likely to do well in confirmation hearings. "He doesn't stick his chin out. He doesn't pick fights. He is very much a lawyer," he said.

Paul Lombardo was quoted in an Oct. 3 Sacramento Bee story about the eugenics movement in California, where a 1909 law led to an estimated 20,000 forced sterilizations. "When the eugenics movement was popular, it was pretty mainline stuff," he said. In the Oct. 17 Virginian-Pilot, Lombardo noted that the growing division between "concierge" health care for the wealthy and lower standards for others poses an ethical issue for society. "I think this kind of arrangement makes obvious the enormous gulf between people who can afford pricey and personalized care and the people who can't afford anything at all," he said. "Is it fair that some people have nothing when others have so much access?"

Paul Mahoney was quoted in an Oct. 11 Chicago Tribune article about disclosures that the CEO of a major derivatives trading firm had a hidden interest in an entity that owed his company several hundred million dollars. "This is a very basic error," he said. "If a transaction is with an affiliate, that must be shown. This seems to indicate a failure internally and by its accountants to determine the true nature of a substantial transaction."

In an Oct. 30 Riverside, Calif., Press Enterprise story on a security crackdown on would-be deportees, David Martin said that a program with real consequences for immigrants who violate deportation orders lends credibility to the entire immigration process. "Eventually the message needs to go out that a deportation order does count for something serious and that people who get them should wrap up their affairs and leave the country," he said. He suggested that per-day fines for people who ignore deportation orders could induce them to leave in order to save their assets.

John Norton Moore's remarks at a panel on the war against terrorism were quoted in the October ABA Journal. The program assessed whether current strategies for fighting terrorism are compatible with civil liberties principles under U.S. and international law. "We ourselves have to show we are committed to the rule of law and the democracy in which we are so privileged to live," he said.

Robert O'Neil was quoted in a Sept. 8 Newark Star-Ledger article about the Internet posting of court records. He noted that a court record available on paper should also be accessible electronically, and added that the benefits of Internet access go far beyond the convenience of saving a trip to the courthouse. "It demystifies the legal system and the courts," he said. O'Neil wrote a commentary for the Sept. 9 Chronicle of Higher Education on the current state of free expression in American colleges. "Some sectors of American campuses seem freer to speak than ever before, while others may be inhibited to a degree not seen in quite some years," he noted. "Notably inhibited on many campuses are those who hold deeply emotional views on either side of Middle East tensions." In an Oct. 2 St. Louis Post-Dispatch article about a professor who posts his avowedly homophobic views on a university Web site, O'Neil said he didn't see a need for constraints unless the content comes into the classroom or if the site is actively used for a class. He said that universities should be wary of appearing to suppress unpopular views in a climate that values free expression and academic freedom.

Elizabeth Scott was quoted in a Sept. 20 Tampa Tribune article about a ruling that an 8-year-old was not competent to stand trial on manslaughter charges. Under Florida law, if the child does not develop "sufficient ability" to consult with his attorney with "a reasonable degree of rational understanding" within the next two years, the charges could be dismissed. Scott questioned whether the child could achieve this understanding within the statute's time frame. An 8-year-old seems unlikely by age 10 to reach the maturity needed to participate in his defense, she said, "even if a child could be taught what a judge does and what lawyers do."

G. E. White was quoted in a Sept. 2 Washington Post article about Sen. Arlen Specter's plans to use the Roberts confirmation hearings as a forum to rebuke the current Supreme Court for several recent rulings that concluded Congress had not justified laws with facts and research. "The whole exercise seems grandstanding on Specter's behalf," he said. "Roberts has not, of course, been involved with any of those decisions." In the Sept. 10 Portland Press Herald, White noted that he didn't expect Roberts to encounter stiff opposition in the Senate. "The Democrats don't really have any significant reason at this point to oppose him," he said.

For more information on faculty in the news, see Archived Faculty in the News or the Media Guide

Faculty in the News is compiled by Kent Olson, Law Library Director of Reference,
Research and Instruction; and the Academic Communications department.

Links to Web sites external to the University of Virginia should not be considered
endorsement of those Web sites or any information contained therein.