Senators Aim to Solve the John Roberts Puzzle

WASHINGTON — For the 26-year-old John G. Roberts Jr., the first year of the Reagan administration saw the dawn of a new era for conservatives, and he fit right in. In memo after memo, the young Justice Department lawyer made clear he was a committed conservative, ready to help his bosses reconsider laws on civil rights, abortion, sex discrimination and religion.

More recently, the 50-year-old Judge Roberts has talked about the importance of modesty and stability on the bench. He said that his experience as a judge had been sobering and that it was harder to reach decisions than he had expected.

Starting today, the Senate Judiciary Committee will take up President Bush's first nomination to the Supreme Court with one overriding question in mind: Who is the real John Roberts?

Is he a conservative activist who will roll back the court's liberal rulings on abortion, affirmative action and the separation of church and state, or is he a cautious jurist who will stick with precedent?

Those questions have taken on added importance since Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's death Sept. 3. Bush, who initially nominated Roberts to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, tapped him to lead the court the day after Rehnquist's death.

The chief justice is often described as the first among equals at the court. He has only one vote, the same as the eight other justices. But the chief justice speaks first and leads the discussion in the court's private conferences.

A skillful, persuasive chief justice could use that opportunity to shape the issues to be decided.

The chief justice also takes the first crack at choosing cases for the high court to consider among the hundreds of appeals that arrive each month. Rehnquist often used this power to set the court's agenda.

Once the justices have heard a case and cast their votes, the chief justice decides who will write the opinion, as long as he or she is in the majority.

Past chief justices, such as Charles Evans Hughes in the 1930s and Earl Warren in the 1950s and 1960s, used such powers to lead the court. By contrast, Warren E. Burger, who was chief justice in the 1970s and early 1980s, was unable to control the fractured court.

Rehnquist, who became chief justice in 1986, liked to say that it was much easier to lead if you knew the direction you were headed. He might have added that it helped to have at least four devoted followers.