The following is an imaginary exchange with John Roberts at his judicial committee hearings:
Sen. Leahy: Judge Roberts, we've read that your Catholic faith is very important to you. Will your religious views affect your decisions as a Supreme Court justice?
Judge Roberts: The answer to that question, senator, is both Yes and No. Permit me to explain. My religious faith imposes upon me moral obligations to be diligent, honest, and fair in fulfilling my role as a justice of the Supreme Court, and I pray that with God's help I will meet those obligations.
However, my role as justice will be to decide what the constitution says about the matters that will be before me. It is not my task to decide what it should or shouldn't say, nor to decide on the basis of what I think is moral or immoral. I have been nominated to be a jurist, not a legislator.
Thus even if I thought that the constitution stated something in direct opposition to my religious convictions my responsibility would be to decide the case on the basis of the constitution and not on the basis of my convictions. It is not the Court's job to make law or to change the constitution. That is the province of the legislative branch of government.
Indeed, it is my religion, senator, that dictates that I be honest in assessing what the constitution says and that I carry out its mandates faithfully. So to that extent, yes, my religion will certainly influence my decisions.
Such an answer would almost certainly bring an end to the questions about Roberts' religion.
