News Intelligence Analysis
From New York Times
Parties Provide Lists of Witnesses for Roberts Hearings
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: September 3, 2005
WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 - Preparing for battle next week on the Supreme
Court nomination of Judge John G. Roberts Jr., Democrats released
a list of witnesses on Friday that includes John W. Dean III,
former counsel to the Nixon administration.
Democratic aides said Mr. Dean, best known for his testimony at the Watergate hearings, is expected to testify about the importance of openness in government and to castigate the Bush administration as failing to release documents relating to Judge Roberts's work in the solicitor general's office under the first President Bush. Mr. Dean has recently written about similar themes.
Countering Mr. Dean's criticism will be Charles Fried, a professor at Harvard Law School and the solicitor general in the Reagan administration. Mr. Fried was one of 15 witnesses on the Republican list released on Thursday. In an interview, Mr. Fried said he was prepared to defend the confidentiality of Mr. Roberts's work for the first Bush administration and planned to rebut arguments that Judge Roberts should disclose his "judicial philosophy."
"It is really a euphemism for asking the man, 'How are you going to decide particular cases that I care about?' " Mr. Fried said. "It is a kind of smoke screen for asking that question."
The Democrats plan to call the following witnesses:
Carol M. Browner, former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Mr. Dean, former White House counsel to Richard M. Nixon and a former minority counsel for the Judiciary Committee.
Marcia D. Greenberger, co-president of the National Women's Law Center and a leading authority on sex discrimination and the law.
Wade Henderson , executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and an authority on a variety of civil rights, civil liberties and human rights issues.
Roderick Jackson, a basketball coach in Birmingham, Ala., who won a Supreme Court case after he lost his job when he complained about the disparity in resources between the girls' and boys' basketball teams.
Beverly L. Jones, a court reporter from Lafayette, Tenn., who had to use a wheelchair and successfully sued Tennessee under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Nathaniel R. Jones, a retired judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and a longtime civil rights advocate. As a lawyer, he supervised a case that led to the Supreme Court decision giving individuals and organizations the right to engage in protests under the First Amendment.
Representative John D. Lewis, Democrat of Georgia, a leader in the civil rights movement in the 1960's.
Karen Pearl, the interim president of Planned Parenthood, who has worked during her 30-year career in education and nonprofit management to promote women's rights and advocate better access to health care.
Anne Marie Tallman, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, which works to protect and promote the civil rights of Latinos living in the United States.
Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, president of the Chicago Theological Seminary, and an author and editor of books on religion and society.
Reginald M. Turner Jr., president of the National Bar Association, the leading African-American bar association in the country.
The Republicans plan to call the following witnesses:
Stephen L. Tober, chairman of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary.
Thomas Z. Hayward Jr., former chairman of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary.
Pamela A. Bresnahan, partner in the firm Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease and the District of Columbia Circuit representative on the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary.
Richard L. Thornburgh, attorney general under President George Bush.
Bruce Botelho, mayor of Juneau, Alaska.
Jennifer C. Braceras, commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and a visiting fellow at the Independent Women's Forum.
Catherine E. Stetson, lawyer, Hogan & Hartson.
Maureen E. Mahoney, lawyer, Latham & Watkins.
Elsa Kircher Cole, general counsel for the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Peter N. Kirsanow, partner in the firm Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff and a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Diana Furchtgott-Roth, senior fellow and director of the Center for Employment Policy at the Hudson Institute.
Charles Fried, professor, Harvard Law School.
Christopher S. Yoo, professor, Vanderbilt University Law School.
Patricia L. Bellia, professor, Notre Dame Law School.
Jay A. Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice.
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