Roberts memos defend school prayer, oppose ‘comparable worth’ News
Roberts memos defend school prayer, oppose ‘comparable worth’

[JURIST] In a 1985 memo to White House counsel Fred Fielding released Monday, US Supreme Court nominee John Roberts [JURIST news archive] stated that the Court's ruling in Wallace v. Jaffree [text], striking down an Alabama law mandating a one-minute period of silence for prayer or meditation as unconstitutional, "seems indefensible" and urged the White House to support a constitutional amendment supporting silent prayer in public schools. In several other memos to Fielding, written while Roberts worked as associate counsel for the Reagan administration, the nominee criticized judges and legislators who supported the "radical redistributive concept" of "comparable worth," [Encyclopedia Britannica entry] which he said "mandates nothing less than central planning of the economy by judges." The 5,393 pages released by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library [official website] Monday also included Roberts' opinions regarding vetting administration nominees, judicial activism and the Court's caseload. AP has more. The Washington Post maintains a listing of key documents authored by Roberts.

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