RIGHT ENOUGH?:

Nominee's Rulings Lean Right (Charles Lane, September 13, 2005, Washington Post)

During his two years as a federal appeals court judge, John G. Roberts Jr. has compiled a voting record that places him to the right of the average member of the U.S. circuit courts, according to the first independent statistical study of his voting record.

Roberts was most conservative on issues involving civil rights and civil liberties, the study found. At the same time, President Bush's nominee for chief justice of the United States showed a liberal streak on economic regulation and labor issues; in those matters, he was significantly to the left of the average, according to the study.

"An overall comparison of Judge Roberts' decision-making indicates that he is somewhat more conservative than the average appellate court judge, though not dramatically so," writes the study's author, Kenneth L. Manning, a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts's Dartmouth campus.

Manning presented his paper Sept. 1 at the 2005 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association in the District. He has since posted it on the Web at http://www.umassd.edu/cas/polisci/roberts.pdf .