university memo that is hidden)
http://www.nysun.com/article/17393<snip>
While an associate counsel in the Reagan White House, President Bush's nominee for the Supreme Court,
Judge John Roberts Jr., made an intellectual argument for limiting the application of federal anti-discrimination laws, but he counseled the administration that for political reasons it should not adopt his view.
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Some conservatives also criticized the decision. They argued that only schools taking direct aid from the government should be subject to federal civil rights laws. . . .
Judge Roberts sided with the conservative critics, at least in theory. "There is a good deal of intuitive appeal to the argument," he wrote.
"Triggering coverage of an institution on the basis of its accepting students who receive federal aid is not too onerous if only the admissions office is covered. If the entire institution is to be covered, it should be on the basis of something more solid than federal aid to the students."However, the stampede to overturn Grove City College proved to be too strong for the Reagan administration to resist.
Senator Kennedy introduced a bill . . . subjecting any entity doing business with the federal government to the full panoply of anti-discrimination laws.A Republican senator of Kansas, Robert Dole, countered with a bill that would have reversed the program-by-program aspect of Grove City College, but only for educational institutions.
After some debate, the Reagan White House endorsed Mr. Dole's proposal. Some conservatives were up in arms, including a former secretary of education, Terrell Bell. He wrote to the White House urging it to push for more latitude for schools like Grove City College. It fell to Judge Roberts to propose a response.
After expressing his agreement with Mr. Bell, Judge Roberts wrote, "As a practical matter, however, I do not think the administration can revisit the issue at this late date. ... Reversing our position on that issue at this point would precipitate a firestorm of criticism, with little if any chance of success."
In his memo, Judge Roberts also took a swipe at Mr. Kennedy's legislation, saying it would "radically expand the civil rights laws to areas of private conduct never before considered covered."The battle over the civil rights legislation continued for several years, but ultimately
Mr. Kennedy prevailed. His bill passed in March 1988. Reagan vetoed it and his veto was overridden.A co-president of the National Women's Law Center, Nancy Duff Campbell, said she was disturbed by the nominee's description of Mr. Kennedy's bill as radical. "That's pretty distressing that he would say that. That's the bill that ultimately passed. That's settled law," she said.
"This memorandum does raise concerns about what his views are on civil rights law."Judge Roberts also kept a file on at least one other contentious civil rights issue, the conflict over the government's right to strip the tax exemption of Bob Jones University because of its ban on interracial dating. That file is not among those presently available for review, according to the library's listing.<snip>
DEMAND that the White House release John Roberts' memo on Bob Jones University!
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