| Show NATION The Salt Lake Tribune Analysts: Clinton Nominee Could Move Court to Right By Aaron Epstein ICNrGHT-RIDDEl- NEWS SERVICE t WASIIINGTON Judge Stephen Breyer's appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee beginning next week is expected to be a compulsory mission lacking risk or drama A genial smart prudent pragmatic judge and a panel of supportive senators will talk for hours about such matters as regulation privacy and the Ninth Amendment Just about everyone already knows how it will turn out: Unless lightning strikes the Senate will overwhelmingly perhaps unaniconfirm Breyer's apmously pointment to a lifetime job on the Supreme Court In sharp contrast to the Robert Bork controversy of 1987 and the Clarence Thomas-AnitHill tempest of 1991 (and probably be cause of them) the Breyer confirmation hearing is expected to generate as much TV excitement as a test pattern Nonetheless the hearing on President Clinton's nominee to succeed liberal Justice Harry Blackmun may provide insights into a man with the potential to lead the nation's most powerful court as this century melts into the next Breyer who will be 56 next month would join a generally conservative court on which as US Appeals Judge Patricia Wald observed recently the dialogue is largely between the center (San dra Day O'Connor Anthony Ken- nedy David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg) and the far right (Chief Justice William Rehnquist I I I I ) a a r a I - s a E i ) El t : I t ) : A r 1 I )t It i 1I I : t Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas) With Blackmun's departure the court's only liberal would be John Paul Stevens Many analysts predict Breyer will find a home in somewhere in the vicinity of Souter and Ginsburg All of which means that the ld Breyer-for-Blackmu- might be a rare instance of a Democratic president's nominee actu ally moving the Supreme Court to the right Breyer is the model of a modern consensus candidate: He may be pigeonhole-proo- f A former Harvard law proles' sor and Senate Judiciary Committee chief counsel he is a onetime - aide to liberal Sen Edward Kenwho is admired by nedy conservative Republicans Orrin Hatch of Utah and Strom Thurmond of South Carolina He was nominated to the federal appeals court in Boston by President Carter and appointed by President Reagan He is as he has said "suspicious of any overarching theory" He assiduously weighs the facts of each case and the practical effects or legal conclusions In general Breyer's rulings on individual rights though passionless appeal to Democrats Republicans applaud his understanding of business interests Unquestionably Breyer would bring to the court expertise and experience in some of the important issues on the horizon — science health and safety the environment property rights and economic regulation — as well as an ability to find the middle ground and coax others to join him Some economists believe Breyer knows more about their subject than any Supreme Court i 1 1 : - N- i t I i t 1 I ' I 1 f measures but the action American Civil Liberties Union found it troubling that he frequently ruled against claims of racial bias As usual at Supreme Court confirmation hearings senators will try every which way to find out where the nominee stands on privacy and abortion Breyer a pontically astute nominee is expected to provide the usual fuzzy responses Conservatives and activists worry most about Breyer's contribution to the landmark reproductive privacy case of Griswold vs Connecticut when he was clerk to Justice Arthur Goldberg in 1965 In Griswold the court held a Connecticut law to be an unconstitutional invasion of privacy That decision proved a prehide to Roe vs Wade the 1973 decision that gave women a right to choose abortion The problem faced by the court in Griswold was to find legal authority for a right to privacy which the Constitution does not mention According to a new book on the development of the right to privacy Goldberg told Breyer to delve into the dormant Ninth Amendment It reads: "The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people" Breyer researched the subject and wrote the first draft of concurring opinion which concluded that marital privacy is a fundamental right "retained by the people" within the meaning of the Ninth Amendment Thomas Jipping director of the conservative Free Congress Foundation's judicial selection monitoring project said the Judiciary Committee now must find out whether Breyer shares Gold anti-abortio- I - sill r - ti and could provide a pragmatic counterweight to Scalia's scrupulously strict approach Yet Breyer is skeptical of the sweep of government regulation and does not automatically defer to the actions of federal agencies His latest book scorned health and safety rules designed to eliminate every last bit of risk Such regulations he said often waste money and ignore higher priorities Opposition to Breyer comes advo- largely from cates who accuse him of being liberal on abortion and from consumer advocates such as Ralph Nader who find him weak on enforcing laws aimed at curbing the excesses of business Breyer has drawn criticism too for his key roles in drafting US policies reforms and (1916-39- - - : : : -' - - vve Irit ''' 2 : -- 21- 7- i 1ti :'r-- i - '' ' $ I Li'1r 1:S? irt: - : '12 ire l' n criminal-sentencin- g vr - 't - I ' V41 1 !1 :o: :s' : - - " : 1 A) I 1 --00 "0-40- ! i 1 '' rlil L e U11600 '20-130- 1 WORLDS OF PETS 8 4": 'i''' ' F '''' 1 -- c"C:7 ' ' ' ' !' 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tee” : ' - On one occasion a postal clerk was sent to pitch in answering IL ve: - : 5 84 laus: It: c:-04Ob"'- ' '14 ' eh t- - lo- - 4 ''''f1:1L1 n- iits well-connect- - DOOR DUSTER! over 500 pairs! --- -- r iN' 1 - - I --- 1" - ! post-offic- e 111111) ' - - ) airline-deregulatio- : oryt--- While other House members and former members were mentioned as taking advantage of favors Rostenkowski was singled out by several witnesses as particularly Post-offic- e SPECIAL REDUCTIONS ON ALL SERTA SLEEP SYSTEMS fa- the floor under the desk" Rota also handed out large quantities of congressional calendars to lobbyists as favors Hatcher said "Anything that came in the mail room that he thought would be of interest he would always put away several cases for himself" including "boxes and boxes" of NISeMs candy that came in each year she said Rota pleaded guilty a year ago to conspiracy and embezzlement charges for helping one former and one current member of Congress obtain cash illegally for per sonal use by submitting vouchers Sources have identified the lawmakers as Rostenkowski and former Rep Joseph Kolter a Rota agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as part of the deal that led to his guilty plea and he is likely to be a principal government witness against Rostenkowski at the Illinois congressman's trial tion - - other and forward them to vored lobbyists Hatcher said one office where cash was kept was "Totally horrible There was money on the floor Sometimes you would walk in and you would see money on Rota "pretty much would do anything for Dan Rostenkowski" Lawson told investigators for the Committee on House Administra- them out: I tions One witness former postal secretary Margaret Hatcher told of a secret set of 66 postal boxes maintained by Rota which he used to collect "dear colleague" letters sent by House members to each Former postmaster Robert :s3 ':--: After the interviews were conducted in the spring of 1992 the House ended the political patronage hiring system at the post office and placed the operation under the control of a nonpartisan administrator Michael Shinay The problems at the post office were central to the investigation that led to Rostenkowski's indictment The two volumes of transcripts totaling 3293 pages also provide glimpses into the partisan bickering that accompanied the panel's probe cozy arrangements with lobbyists rides to the airport or other destinations provided to certain lawmakers and special pickups of campaign contribu- d Breyer" - t- 4-t'- Ar4r ksi - : anti-aborti- ' - -- k: 0 - 1 de- scribed their workplace as a cesspool of sloth and disorganization that showed efficiency only when called on to do special favors for members of Congress And prominent among those who tapped the post office for help was Rep Dan Rostenkowski the former Ways and Means Committee chairman now under federal indictment on corruption charges according to several thousand pages of transcripts released Thursday The transcripts from interviews conducted two years ago as part of an internal House probe of its own postal system portrayed an operation where tens of thousands of dollars lay loose in drawers and even on the floor where record keeping was sloppy or nonexistent and where some of the highest-paiemployees spent their days reading newspapers "Any time a member of Congress wanted anything I mean just jump to it you know especially if it might have been a powerful member you know like Dan Rostenkowski" said Inga Lavison a mail clerk family-plannin- g - — Employees WASHINGTON berg's views "Anyone who believes that the Ninth Amendment provides an independent source of specific constitutional rights takes a breathtakingly broad view of the role of judges and the proper interpretation of the Constitution" Jipping said As a federal appeals judge Breyer never ruled directly on the right to abortion But his rejection in 1990 of a federal regulation banning abortion counseling clinics sugin gests that he takes a broad view of abortion rights His decisions on freedom of expression for private citizens and groups generally please liberals and the press though Breyer's opinions lack Blackmun's passion for the First Amendment But Breyer's restrictive interpretations of the Freedom of Information Act which requires public disclosure of much government data worry press activists As for criminal law "he's not going to make a difference" said Boston University law professor Tracy Nlaclin who is writing a book on the Supreme Court's weakening of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures "This is a solidly conseriative court on criminal issues" Mac lin said "Blackmun was no liberal on criminal stuff and neither is KDiDYiE - a PRESS at the House Post Office n Gold-berg- 's justice since Louis Brandeis I ts request for comment to Dan Webb his lawyer in the corruption tase who did not immediately return telephone calls By Jim Drinkard THE ASSOCIATED 111 are apprehensive - i ages the year they were named to the high bench and the president who appointed them: William H Rehnquist 69 1971 Richard Nixon named chief justice in 1986 by Ronald Reagan II John Paul Stevens 74 1975 Gerald Ford Sandra Day O'Connor 64 1981 Reagan a Antonin Scalia 58 1986 Reagan III Anthony Kennedy 57 1987 Reagan David Souter 54 1990 George Bush Clarence Thomas 46 1991 Bush Ruth Bader Ginsburg 61 1993 Bill Clinton about Breyer's potentially pivotal role in closely divided cases He has endorsed affirmative-- ss 1 t transition n Here is a list of the current Supreme Court members Included are their has been criticized by judges and scholars as rigid and harsh contributing to overcrowding of civil-righ- House Post Office Workers Say Operation Was a Sloppy Cesspool Today's Justices 13 A5 Saturday July 9 1994 Shop Mon - 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