US: The US senate judiciary committee has approved the nomination of John Roberts as chief justice, making almost certain his confirmation by the entire senate next week. Three Democrats joined the committee's 10 Republicans in backing Mr Roberts but five Democratic senators voted against him.
The committee's chairman, Arlen Specter, a moderate Republican, described Mr Roberts' approach of "modesty of stability, and away from judicial activism" as a model for the supreme court. Other Republicans praised the judge's encyclopaedic knowledge of the law and his devotion to the independence of the judiciary.
Orrin Hatch, a former chairman of the committee, said Mr Roberts was "as good as it gets" in terms of nominees for America's most senior judicial position. "I have to say he's the best I've seen," he said.
Democrats who opposed the nomination expressed serious concerns, however, about Mr Roberts's commitment to civil rights, notably the right to privacy and the rights of minorities.
Senator Edward Kennedy said that a commitment to "the march of progress" was the central issue in Mr Roberts' hearing before the committee last week.
"We asked whether he, as chief justice, would bring the values and ideals and vision to lead us on the path of continued equality, fairness and opportunity for all; or would he stand in the way of progress by viewing the issues that come before the court in a narrow and legalistic way, thereby slowly turning back the clock and eroding the civil rights and equal rights gains of the past," he said.
Recalling that Mr Roberts compared the role of a judge to that of an umpire, Mr Kennedy said the judge had said little about his constitutional values and ideals.
"Umpires follow the rules of the game. But in critical cases, it may well depend on where they are standing when they make the call. The same is true of judges," Mr Kennedy said.
Senator Joseph Biden said he was voting against Mr Roberts reluctantly because he could not take the constitutional risk of approving the judge on the basis of limited information.
Republican Senator Lindsay Graham warned Democrats that, by voting against Mr Roberts for political reasons, they risked setting a dangerous precedent that could rebound on them if a Democrat becomes president.
Because liberals and conservatives come and go, "the rule of law is bigger than all of our philosophies. The rule of law is about the process. If you want the law to be outcome-determinative, then the process has been cheapened," he said.
After Mr Roberts is confirmed as chief justice by the entire senate next week, President Bush is expected to nominate a supreme court justice to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor, who is retiring.
Democrats have warned that they could use a filibuster to block the nomination if Mr Bush chooses an ideological conservative to succeed Ms O'Connor, who is regarded as a moderate.