On September 29th, John Roberts was confirmed as America's Chief Justice. The Senate voted 78-22 with 22 Democrats crossing the aisle. Read More

Bay Area reproductive rights groups protested John Roberts’ nomination to be Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court as congressional hearings about his confirmation loom. BACORR (Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights) held rallies on September 6th at 5:30 pm at Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office in San Francisco and at the Oakland Federal Building. Coverage of Protest in Oakland

9/5/2005: President Bush has said he will nominate federal appeals court Judge John G. Roberts Jr. to be the nation's 17th chief justice.

On Saturday September 3rd, Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist died.
When Chief Justice Warren Burger retired in 1986, then-President Ronald Reagan nominated Rehnquist to fill the position. Since becoming Chief Justice, Rehnquist has lead the Court's move towards taking a broader view of state powers in the U.S. federal system. For example, he wrote for a 5-to-4 majority in United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995), striking down a federal law as exceeding Congressional power under the commerce clause. Rehnquist has also led the way in establishing more governmental leniency towards state aid for religion, writing for another 5-to-4 majority in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U.S. 639 (2002), approving a school voucher program that aided parochial schools. Read More On Wikipedia
On July 1, 2005, Justice O'Connor announced that she would retire from the Supreme Court when her successor is nominated and confirmed. Bush has nominated Judge Roberts for the position. With Rehnquist's death, Bush will now have two open positions on the Supreme Court to fill.

Past Coverage Of The Roberts Nomination: Democracy Now Hour-Long Special on John Roberts | Supreme Court Town Hall Meeting and March | Who is Judge Roberts? | Roberts' Interviews with White House Officials Prior to Gitmo Ruling Raise Questions