Chief Justice, John G. Roberts, libtards are pissing lava
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Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn), center, smiles next to Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Arlen Specter, left, and Sen. Mitch McConnell after John Roberts was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill, on Thursday. \/

Roberts sworn in as Democrats warn of battle on next nominee

Feinstein and Boxer among 22 senators to vote against Bush's choice for chief justice

Washington - Even as John Roberts took the oath of office as the 17th chief justice of the United States and its youngest in more than two centuries, Democrats promised a much tougher fight Thursday on President Bush's next nominee to the Supreme Court, which could come as early as today.

Senate Democrats fractured down the middle as half voted with all 55 Republicans and one Independent to confirm the 50-year-old appellate court judge on a 78-22 vote.

California's two Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, voted against confirmation in a rare session in which all the members stood at their Senate desks to call out their votes -- testament to the weight placed on a lifetime appointment to head the nation's judiciary.

Feinstein said afterward she is very worried -- "8 1/2 on a scale of one to 10" -- that the nominee for the seat of retiring centrist Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will be more conservative than Roberts. The president initially chose Roberts to succeed O'Connor when she announced her retirement earlier this summer, but renominated him as chief justice after Chief Justice William Rehnquist died Sept. 3.

President Bush looks on as John Roberts is sworn in by Justice John Paul Stevens as 17th Chief Justice of the United States in the East Room of the White House on Thursday. Roberts' wife Jane holds the Bible. \/

O'Connor, an Arizona Republican, often shifted the court to more moderate or liberal decisions in 5-4 rulings on such divisive social issues as affirmative action and abortion rights. Her replacement could cement a conservative majority on the court, a long-standing and often thwarted Republican goal.

Sen. Charles Schumer, the New York Democrat who has led the fight against Bush's court nominees, warned that several names in contention for O'Connor's seat on the Supreme Court could draw a filibuster -- a traditional procedural move that minority groups of senators can use to block action they oppose.

Schumer named federal appellate court judges Janice Rogers Brown, an African American and former California Supreme Court justice, and Patricia Owen, a former Texas Supreme Court justice, as likely filibuster targets. Both won spots on the federal bench after the bipartisan "Gang of 14" senators agreed last May to preserve the judicial filibuster, but only for extraordinary circumstances.

That pact could be sorely tested with the next nominee.

President Bush and Chief Justice nominee John Roberts watch the Senate vote on Roberts' nomination Thursday in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. The Senate voted 78-22 to confirm Roberts. \/

Roberts, now the court's youngest justice, was sworn in by the Supreme Court's oldest, 85-year-old Justice John Paul Stevens, at a White House ceremony. Roberts' wife, Jane, held the swearing-in Bible while his family, Bush, senators and Supreme Court justices looked on.

Roberts, the first new justice since 1994, will take his place on the court Monday when it begins its new term. He will be the youngest chief justice since John Marshall was confirmed in 1801 at age 45.

"All Americans can be confident that the 17th chief justice of the United States will be prudent in exercising judicial power, firm in defending judicial independence, and above all, a faithful guardian of the Constitution," Bush said in his introduction.

Roberts turned first to thank Stevens rather than Bush, a notable gesture to his new colleague, as he emphasized the judiciary's independence from the other branches of government.

"What Daniel Webster termed 'the miracle of our Constitution' is not something that happens every generation," Roberts said. "But every generation in its turn must accept the responsibility of supporting and defending the Constitution and bearing true faith and allegiance to it.

"That is the oath that I just took. I will try to ensure, in the discharge of my responsibilities, that with the help of my colleagues I can pass on to my children's generation a charter of self-government as strong and as vibrant as the one that Chief Justice Rehnquist passed on to us."

Roberts said he viewed the morning's Senate vote "as confirmation of what is for me a bedrock principle: that judging is different from politics."

Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Arlen Specter, second from left, speaks about the confirmation of John Roberts by the Senate to become the next Chief Justice of the U.S. on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday. \/

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee whose endorsement of the conservative Roberts shocked activists and provided political cover for other Democrats, said he took the judge at his word that he does not have an ideological agenda and will be his own man.

"I hope that he will, and I trust that he will," Leahy said Thursday.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., a moderate and an abortion rights backer who chairs the Judiciary Committee and who will play a central role in the next nomination, hailed the lopsided vote as remarkable, considering that just five months ago the Senate was locked in a fiercely partisan struggle over judicial filibusters. That political battle ended only when centrists from both parties broke with their leaders.

Specter said Bush disarmed his critics with his nomination of Roberts, a former Reagan and George H.W. Bush administration lawyer who was one of the nation's top lawyers practicing before the Supreme Court. Roberts had served the past two years as a federal appellate judge.

"It is my hope that the president will now send us a nominee for Justice O'Connor's spot in the mold of Judge Roberts," Specter said.

Many Republicans are urging Bush to ignore calls to name a woman or a minority to the court -- although Bush could make history by appointing the court's first Latino. They contend that Roberts' easy confirmation offers a road map showing that a conservative of impeccable credentials and a short paper trail of legal writings can be confirmed.

Still, many conservative activists, though publicly supporting Roberts, were shaken by his embrace during his hearings of a privacy right in the Constitution -- the foundation of abortion and gay rights -- and the emphatic weight he placed on precedent as a source of stability in the law.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., an abortion rights opponent, demanded that the next nominee explicitly state his or her views on abortion and other controversial social issues -- and liberals are making the same demands.

Many Democrats who supported Roberts said they will take a harder look at the next nominee, because the stakes are higher for the moderate O'Connor's seat.

Feinstein said she voted against Roberts because she couldn't be assured of his views.

"My belief is that you should be open in public about your views," Feinstein said. "I couldn't penetrate to the extent that I could feel comfortable, knowing the things I care deeply about, that I ran for the Senate for, will be protected."

San Francisco Chronicle ~ Carolyn Lochhead ** Roberts sworn in as Democrats warn of battle on next nominee