Friday, July 22, 2005

Should Test Oath Clause Limit Scope of Roberts Questioning?

Judge John Roberts' position on abortion rights promises to be a major focus in the upcoming Supreme Court confirmation hearings in the Senate. As the media speculates about the impact of his Roman Catholic faith on his views about Roe v. Wade, over on the Religionlaw listserv there is an interesting discussion on whether there are Constitutional objections to asking him about his religious beliefs. Do the provisions of Art. VI, Clause 3: "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States", limit the Senate's right to question him about the impact of his religious beliefs? Here is the beginning of the discussion thread.