Roberts Pressed for Views on School Cases

Washington

Judge John G. Roberts Jr.’s path to the U.S. Supreme Court seemed clear of any serious hurdles late last week, after he survived more than three days of questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee, including repeated efforts by Democrats to draw him out on several legal issues in education.

Most attempts to expose his views on equal access to education and other school-related issues had limited success, although the nominee to replace the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist provided glimmers of his views on a few issues.

Democrats pressed Judge Roberts, now a member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, on a memo he wrote as a young Department of Justice lawyer in reaction to the Supreme Court decision involving the education of...