John G. Roberts Jr., 50, has long been considered one of the Republicans' heavyweights amid the largely Democratic Washington legal establishment. Roberts was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2003 by President George W. Bush. (He was also nominated by the first President Bush, but never received a Senate vote.) Previously, he practiced law at Washington's Hogan & Hartson from 1986-1989 and 1993-2003. Between 1989 and 1993, he was the principal deputy solicitor general in the first Bush administration, helping formulate the administration's position in Supreme Court cases. During the Reagan administration, he served as an aide to Attorney General William French Smith from 1981 to 1982 and as an aide to White House counsel Fred Fielding from 1982 to 1986.  With impeccable credentials -- Roberts attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School, clerked for Justice William H. Rehnquist on the Supreme Court and has argued frequently before the court -- the question marks about Roberts have always been ideological. While his Republican Party loyalties are undoubted, earning him the opposition of liberal advocacy groups, he is not a "movement conservative," and some on the party's right-wing doubt his commitment to their cause. His paper record is thin: As deputy solicitor general in 1990, he argued in favor of a government regulation that banned abortion-related counseling by federally funded family-planning programs. A line in his brief noted the Bush administration's belief that Roe v. Wade should be overruled.  As a judge on the D.C. Circuit, Roberts voted with two colleagues to uphold the arrest and detention of a 12-year-old girl for eating french fries on the Metro train, though his opinion noted that "[n]o one is very happy about the events that led to this litigation." In another case, Roberts wrote a dissenting opinion that suggested Congress might lack the power under the Constitution's Commerce Clause to regulate the treatment of a certain species of wildlife.  Written responses by John G. Roberts Jr. to questions from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee:  Documents released Aug. 29 by the National Archives written by Roberts while working in the Reagan administration:  Documents from the Reagan Library relating to Roberts' time as Associate Counsel to the President during the Reagan administration:  Roberts response to a Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire in preparation for this September confirmation hearings:  Memos written by Roberts during his tenure as an assistant White House counsel and a special assistant to then-Attorney General William French Smith during the Reagan administration:  Documents related to a 1990 request by the Federal Communications Commission to defend a policy aimed at encouraging more minority ownership of broadcast stations.  Oral arguments Roberts made before the Supreme Court when representing private clients:  Other filings and Web sites:  National Archives Records Pertaining to Roberts  Transcript of Senate Judiciary Committee Confirmation Hearing, Jan. 29, 2003 (PDF)  Transcript of Senate Judiciary Confirmation Hearing, April 30, 2003 (PDF)  Roberts Financial Disclosure Report, Fiscal Year 2003
On September 5, President Bush nominatedÂ John G. Roberts Jr. to be chief justice of the Supreme Court. Bush previously nominated Roberts to be associate justice.