How focus on Roe pushes aside other court issues

Throughout his testimony, Roberts — like every other Supreme Court nominee in recent decades — confronted and deflected scores of questions aimed at whether he would vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade, the court's landmark decision that gave women a constitutional right to an abortion. Roe is certain to be the central issue in hearings, scheduled to start Jan. 9, on federal Judge Samuel Alito's nomination, as well."It takes the focus off what the Supreme Court really does," said Lee Epstein, a law and political science professor at Washington University in St. Louis. "We don't get questions on what's maybe half of the court's docket on economic disputes. We don't get questions about anticipating future cases — the future in terms of technology and science. Nobody's thinking about them. The intense focus on abortion is distracting."

•	How focus on Roe pushes aside other court issues Chicago Tribune, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2005 Byline: Jan Crawford Greenburg, Washington Bureau

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