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Roberts says he is hesitant to comment on the renewal of the 1965 voting rights act because those cases come before the court. Kennedy is not satisfied with his answer and asks him about the constitutionality of the 1968 federal fair housing law. Roberts says he is not aware of any arguments raised about the act's constitutionality.

He calls the right to vote "one of our most precious."

Kennedy questions him on Roberts' 1980s-era writings on the voting rights act, noting that Roberts wrote that section II of the act "was constitutionally suspect."

"You thought," Kennedy says, "we didn't know what we were doing."

Roberts is itching to answer this one.

His response is technical; the Reagan administration wanted to extend the civil rights act but wanted to modify one of the "tests" that triggered it because that test did not reflect the state of affairs vis-a-vis discrimination.

Kennedy interrupts. "The effects test was the law of the land, Mr. Roberts."

Roberts: "Senator, you disagree..."

Specter: "Senator, let him finish his answer."

Roberts: "This is revisiting a debate that took place 23 years ago....the only point I would make is twofold. That those like PResident Reagan..who were advocating the extnesion of the VRA without change were as fully committing to protect the right to vote as anyone. The articulation of views that you read from represented my effort to articulate the views of the administration for whom I worked."

For the first time in these hearings, Roberts' back seems to be up.

Posted by Marc Ambinder | 11:26 AM