Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specterwas an American lawyer and politician who served as United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican from 1965 until 2009, when he switched back to the Democratic Party. First elected in 1980, he represented his state in the Senate for 30 years...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth12 February 1930
CountryUnited States of America
mean precedent stability
Stability means respecting precedents.
approach bring continuity court decisions mean modest needs staying together
I think there needs to be a collegial, modest approach to try to bring the court together so that we have some idea of continuity and what these decisions mean and their staying power,
applied broad core due evolving expansive john liberty meaning principles process roberts understanding
John Roberts has a broad, expansive understanding of the application of the Constitution. He did say the core principles of liberty and due process have broad meaning as applied to evolving societal conditions.
beyond capacity circuit hearing judge law mean roe settled testimony widely
Judge Roberts, in your confirmation hearing for the circuit court, your testimony read to this effect, and it's been widely quoted: Roe is the settled law of the land. Do you mean settled for you, settled only for your capacity as a circuit judge, or settled beyond that?
vote
We're going to have a vote on this one day soon.
contested daunting facing heavy judicial
We're facing a daunting workload with a very heavy backlog of controversial and contested judicial nominees.
demand entitled gravity matter people potential president states united utmost
We are proceeding in a matter of the utmost, utmost gravity -- the potential for impeachment of the president of the United States -- and I think American people will demand and are entitled to that kind of bipartisanship,
change course judges roe talk versus woman
When you talk about judges who would change the right of a woman to choose, who'd overturn Roe versus Wade, I think that is unlikely, ... And I have said that bluntly during the course of the campaign, that Roe versus Wade was inviolate.
hearings november ready start until
We're not going to start these hearings until you're prepared. And she said November 7th she'd be ready to go.
might roe
Would you think that Roe might be a super-duper precedent?
doubt
There is no doubt that this is inappropriate.
doubt exposing factors interests law national point public reporting security taken value waste
There is no doubt about the value of investigative reporting to the public interests in exposing corruption, malfeasance, misconduct, waste ... there are weighty considerations on law enforcement, on their point of view, and national security interests. All of those factors have to be taken into account.
thinking judging independence
I think my independence was a big help to getting Judges Roberts and Alito confirmed, and I think that's recognized.
party president too-much
Whatever my party affiliation, I will continue to be guided by President Kennedy's statement that sometimes party asks too much.