Roberts Disparaged States' Sex-Bias Fight

[tocqueville]

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent
16 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee John Roberts disparaged state efforts to combat discrimination against women in Reagan-era documents made public Thursday, and wondered whether "encouraging homemakers to become lawyers contributes to the common good."

A young White House lawyer at the time, Roberts also criticized a crime-fighting proposal by Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record) as "the epitome of the `throw money at the problem'" approach.

Specter, R-Pa., then a first-term senator, is now chairman of the Judiciary Committee and will preside at Roberts' confirmation hearings scheduled to begin Sept. 6.

The documents, released simultaneously in Washington and at the Reagan Library in California, completed the disclosure of more than 50,000 pages that cover Roberts' tenure as a lawyer in the White House counsel's office from 1982-1986.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050818/ap_on_go_su_co/roberts