Maureen Mahoney: Roberts Knows the 'Role of a Judge'

Maureen Mahoney, a partner in the Washington office of Latham & Watkins, and a former Roberts colleague in the solicitor general's office, used her testimony to try to deflect any concerns that Roberts's early writings and work in that office necessarily reflected his personal views.

"He was not viewed as a partisan operative. Instead he was viewed as a brilliant advocate in the finest tradition of this office," she said.

During Mahoney's tenure in the solicitor general's office, President Bush nominated her to fill a vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, but the Senate did not act on her nomination.

"Please do not presume that the views that are expressed in briefs on behalf of the United States ... necessarily reflect the views he will adopt," as chief justice.

"Our job was to defend the policies of the administration within the bounds of the law, within the realm of good logic, good reasoning," she said.

Roberts, she added, "was very interested in providing equal opportunity for women."

He knows, she said, that "the role of a judge is to serve, not to rule."

By  |  September 15, 2005; 2:28 PM ET  | Category:  Confirmation Hearings
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Posted by: James E Mahoney III | October 1, 2005 04:33 PM

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