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Friday, August 5, 2005

Roberts’ Pro-Bono Work on Landmark Gay Rights Case

Posted by on August 5 at 10:32 AM

I can’t believe I missed this yesterday, but the big news from the LA Times on Thursday (there’s a West Coast paper for ya, Savage) is that while Supreme Court nominee John Roberts was in private practice at Hogan & Hogan in D.C., he advised lawyers to the plaintiffs in the landmark gay rights case Romer v. Evans. Does this mean he’s more gay-friendly than we’ve been led to believe, or was he simply pro-kissing up to his bosses at his more moderate place of employ?

Today comes reams of analysis. The New York Times article is thoroughly reported, with descriptions of the actual advice he gave to the group. (He helped the pro-gay lawyers anticipate and develop rebuttals to objections from conservative Justices Scalia and Rehnquist.)

More follow-ups available at the LA Times (w/ a neutral, social libertarian quote from Grover Norquist), and at the Washington Post (a more cautious analysis, which seems inclined toward the opinion that none of this means anything about Roberts’ judicial philosophy).