Roberts exercises right to avoid specifics

Rick Klein - The Boston Globe: "If confirmed as chief justice in the nation's highest court, Roberts pledged to use his authority to bring ''coherence and consensus" to the court's rulings, bemoaning split decisions that offer conflicting guidance to lower courts and legislative bodies. He also said he is committed to increasing the Supreme Court's workload beyond the approximately 80 cases that it hears annually.

Democrats consistently objected to his dodges, but Roberts, a 50-year-old federal appeals court judge, used flashes of humor to defuse tense moments.

Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, sarcastically derided the ''absurd" nature of Roberts's responses. He wisecracked that if asked, Roberts probably would not even name a movie he liked.

''I ask you if you like 'Casablanca,' " Schumer said. ''You respond by saying, 'Lots of people like ''Casablanca." ' You tell me, 'It's widely settled that ''Casablanca" is one of the great movies.' "

The room was laughing along with Schumer, and Specter called for a 15-minute break. But Roberts insisted on being able to respond. ''First, 'Dr. Zhivago' and 'North by Northwest,' " he said, generating laughter of his own before offering a spirited explanation for his refusals to answer questions on judicial philosophy."