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We can learn quite a bit about John Roberts' judicial outlook by examining his "french fry ruling" of 2004. Liberals are already pointing to it as an example of how Roberts is "hostile" to civil rights, (web site) but the facts show a strict interpretation of the law without bias. (The "mainstream media," however, makes its bias clear. The Associated Press story (web site) on Roberts' nomination began, "Judge John G. Roberts' views on abortion may be murky, but there's no question where he stands on the issue of girls eating fries in a subway station.") A twelve-year-old was arrested for violating a ban on eating in the Metro, DC's subway. The girl was taken to a police station and released to her mother. Through her lawyer, the girl claimed her rights were violated, (web site) calling the law discriminatory. The lawsuit claimed she was unfairly treated because of her youth -- an adult, being responsible for him or herself, would have merely received a citation for the offense.

Judge Roberts could find no "right to eat french fries on the subway" in the Constitution. This was inexplicable and unforgivable to Liberals, as was his failure to find a Constitutional right for the young to be treated as adults under the law (except, of course, when being sentenced for murder). (web site) Writing the unanimous decision, he said that treating the young differently was allowable as long as there was a "rational basis" for doing so. In this case, the logical reason was that the girl had no parent or legal guardian present to take responsibility for her behavior. Roberts agreed with the lower court ruling that the arrest was legal, though he chided the transit police for overreacting, calling the policy that led to the arrest "foolish." Foolish or not, the transit police did have the legal right to enforce an eating ban on the Metro.

An activist judge would have simply overturned the eating ban. He might have discovered a Constitutional "right to eat in public places," using the same mysterious method by which federal judges so frequently divine hidden "rights." The fact that he did not do so -- despite his personal feelings, which he made clear to all -- speaks well of Judge Roberts, and fuels hope that he can be the kind of Justice we need on the Supreme Court.

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Joe Mariani is a computer consultant born and raised in New Jersey. He now lives in Pennsylvania, where the gun laws are less restrictive and taxes are lower. Joe always thought of himself as politically neutral until he saw how far left the left had really gone after 9/11. His essays and links to articles are available at http://www.guardianwatchblog.com/

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.

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