Roberts’ Education Views to Face Senate Scrutiny

The confirmation hearings that start this week for President Bush’s nominee to replace Sandra Day O’Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court are sure to draw upon tens of thousands of memoranda, letters, and articles concerning him that have been unearthed since July, including many that touch on education.

A new batch of Judge John G. Roberts Jr.’s memos was released last week by the National Archives. They include a memo from 1982, when Judge Roberts was a lawyer in the Department of Justice under President Reagan, in which he expressed some sympathy with the agenda of conservative groups to enact private school vouchers and to “reduce federal regulation of schools.”

Meanwhile, groups lining up for and against Judge Roberts have also been studying the raw materials of his 25-year career as a White House legal adviser, appellate advocate, and...