"That's the kind of justice that I'm looking for," he went on. "Somebody who respects the law, doesn't think that they should be making the law, but also has a sense of what's happening in the real world and recognizes that one of the roles of the courts is to protect people who don't have a voice."
He added that the "special role" of the court is to protect "the vulnerable, the minority, the outcast, the person with the unpopular idea."
If there is a second most important influence on such appointments, it may well be the vice president. Sen. Joe Biden served on the Senate Judiciary Committee throughout his career, and was chairman during the fights over Supreme Court nominees Robert H. Bork in 1987 and Clarence Thomas in 1991.
Biden, like Obama, knows many of the Democratic appointees to the bench who could be Supreme Court nominees if a vacancy arises. There is no certainty that any justice will retire soon. Ginsburg, among others, has been saying that she has no thoughts of leaving.
The first clash between the Roberts court and the Obama administration could come early next year over the future of the Voting Rights Act.
Two years ago, Congress voted to extend for another 25 years the landmark law that is credited with assuring that blacks in the South had the right to vote as well as the political clout that came with it.
But many Southern officials chafe at a provision that requires them to "pre-clear" changes in voting rules or electoral districts with the Justice Department. Chief Justice Roberts is no fan of the law and once called it "sordid" because it required officials to consider the race of voters when drawing district lines.
In September, lawyers for a Texas municipal district filed a constitutional challenge to the pre-clearance rule, saying it was unfair and outdated. The high court will probably take up the challenge after January, and the Obama administration will be responsible for defending the law.
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david.savage@latimes.com
