The impact of Judge John Roberts' Roman Catholic religious beliefs on his performance as a Supreme Court Justice has become the focus of much attention. In yesterday's Los Angeles Times, an op-ed by Jonathan Turley reported on an exchange that occurred during an informal meeting between Roberts and Illinois Senator Richard Durbin. Asked what he would do if he faced a conflict between what the law required and what his Church considered immoral, Roberts supposedly, after a long pause, said he would probably recuse himself in the case. Today the Washington Times reports that Durbin's office disputes Turley's account. Durbin's press secretary Joe Shoemaker said that Durbin never asked that question and Roberts never said he would recuse himself in such a case. Turley however says he confirmed the story with Shoemaker before he wrote his article.
Whatever in fact happened, perhaps the more interesting question is what a sincere Catholic judge should do when a case calls on him or her to make a ruling that violates important teachings of the Church. There has been a lively discussion of this issue on Mirror of Justice blog, including this posting. Also related to the controversy is an interesting article in an issue of last year's Catholic Lawyer by St. Thomas Law School faculty members Gregory C. Sisk & Charles J. Reid, Jr., Abortion, Bishops, Eucharist, and Politicians: A Question of Communion.
