WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court nominee John Roberts carefully picked his way through a second day of questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday as Republicans challenged Democrats to support his all-but-certain confirmation as the nation's 17th chief justice.\n"If people can't vote for you, then I doubt that they can vote for any Republican nominee," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.\nMinority Democrats sounded unswayed.\nSen. Charles Schumer told Roberts he was "cutting back a little on what you said yesterday," referring to Roberts' earlier statement that the Constitution provides a right to privacy.\nThe New York Democrat made his charge after Roberts declined to cite any examples of disagreement with the opinions of Justice Clarence Thomas. Thomas has written there is no general right to privacy, a right often viewed as the underpinning of a right to abortion.\n"We are rolling the dice with you," Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., told the 50-year-old appeals court judge, who turned aside questions about abortion, the right to die, the permissibility of torture and other issues he said may come before the court.\nEven as Roberts fielded questions, there was fresh evidence of the contentious issues that await him if he is confirmed to replace the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. There were gasps from the audience when word was relayed from the committee dais that a federal judge in California had ruled the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools was unconstitutional because it includes the words "under God." Roberts was not asked for his opinion.\nFor the second straight day, Roberts fielded questions calmly, summoning descriptions of past cases from memory. He spiced his testimony with a sense of humor, promising at one point that if confirmed, he would not seek a pay raise "next week."\nRepublicans projected ever greater confidence that he would soon preside in the grand marble Supreme Court building across the street from the Capitol.\n"We need you to bring to the court your compassion and your understanding for the lives of others who haven't been as successful as you have been," said Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, one of several Republicans who spoke as if giving a send-off message to a man about to embark on a new mission.\nGOP officials say they are confident of the support of all 10 Republican members of the committee when the roll is called next week, although it is possible all eight Democrats will oppose him.
Officials in both parties say Roberts is likely to receive votes from several Democrats when his nomination reaches the full Senate. Among them are senators who represent Republican-leaning states or those who joined in a bipartisan compromise earlier this year to defuse a threatened showdown over the administration's conservative appeals court judges.\nAcross several hours in the witness chair, the former Reagan administration lawyer was modestly more forthcoming than he had been on Tuesday.\nHe sparred anew with Sen. Edward Kennedy about civil rights. "Did I hear that it's not constitutionally suspect as far as you view it today?" the Massachusetts Democrat asked about a key section of the Voting rights Act. \n"Yes," said Roberts, going beyond what he had said Tuesday.\nIn other areas, while he made no commitment, he told Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., that if four other justices wanted to grant a new hearing to a prisoner on death row, he would join them to make a majority for temporarily preventing the execution. "It obviously makes great sense. ... You don't want to moot the case by not staying the sentence," he said.\nIn response to a question from Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., he said Congress has the right to overturn a recent Supreme Court ruling that allows cities broad power to seize and raze people's homes for private development. \n"This body and legislative bodies in the states are protectors of the people's rights," Roberts said. He said he had been surprised when he learned of the court's ruling.\nIn numerous other cases during the day he politely but insistently declined to answer questions.\nHe told Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., he would not discuss questions of discrimination against homosexuals, or provide an opinion about the legal representation due to certain prisoners held in the war on terror.\nRoberts also refused to be drawn into a discussion with Biden or Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., when they asked about a "right to die."\nAnd he said he wouldn't discuss the particulars of a case that Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the committee chairman, asked about in which the Supreme Court overturned a law Congress had passed.
