I have been listening to Judge John Roberts’ testimony before the Senate. He is very good at answering questions about judicial procedure, the consistency of the law and the limits on judges’ discretion and power. He seems like an extremely bright law student.

But he has been nominated to be chief justice of the United States, and he hasn’t shown any sign of a commitment to justice. The words “equal justice under the law” are enshrined over the entrance to the Supreme Court, and Roberts hasn’t shown any understanding of why there can be no justice without equality. As a judge, he has been willing to allow individuals to be put to death without a court hearing evidence that might exonerate them. He has been willing to allow American citizens to be stripped of all their rights simply because the government has suspicions about them.

If that is equal justice under the law, we are all in trouble.

Sens. Snowe and Collins and their party have sent Americans to their deaths in Iraq for no good reason. Their party has left Americans to die in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast for no good reason. If they believe that Americans owe their government their lives and their government owes them nothing, then Judge Roberts is their man. But if they think that government exists to serve the people and that the courts exist to protect the people from the government, they cannot vote to confirm him.

James Parakilas, Lewiston