Slate.com: on Civil Rights


John Merrill: Just because you're 18 doesn't give you the right to vote

Automatic voter registration has recently emerged a key tool in increasing the United States' anemic voter turnout. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, a Republican, has joined the opposition. Asked a question about automatic voter registration, Merrill declared that the practice "cheapen[s] the work" of civil rights heroes and that "just because you turned 18 doesn't give you the right" to vote.
Source: Slate.com on 2020 Alabama Senate race Nov 2, 2016

John Roberts: Opposed simplifying complaints against voting rights

For Reagan, Roberts opposed a congressional effort-in the wake of the 1980 Supreme Court decision Mobile v. Bolden-to make it easier for minorities to successfully argue that their votes had been diluted under the Voting Rights Act.
Source: Emily Bazelon and David Newman, Slate.com Jul 1, 2005

John Roberts: Weaken the separation of church and state

For Bush Senior, Roberts co-authored a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that public high-school graduation programs could include religious ceremonies. The Supreme Court disagreed by a vote of 5-4. (Lee v. Weisman, 1992)
Source: Emily Bazelon and David Newman, Slate.com Jul 1, 2005

John Roberts: No paper trail as a judge on gay rights issues

Gay rights advocates like the Human Rights Campaign say that Roberts has no paper trail on the issue as a judge. But they fear that his conservative Republican record, including his criticism of the right to privacy authorized by Roe, bodes badly for them.
Source: Slate.com Jul 19, 2005

John Roberts: Ok for religious groups to meet at schools

Roberts has argued on behalf of his clients for the expansion of religion in public schools. In a coauthored brief to the Supreme Court in Lee v. Weisman, he argued that religious ceremonies should be allowed to be a part of graduation ceremonies. The Supreme Court rejected that position. But Roberts successfully argued to the court that religious groups should not be banned from meeting on school grounds in the case of Mergens v. Westside Community School District.
Source: Slate.com Jul 19, 2005

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