In July 2005, President George W. Bush nominated John Roberts to succeed retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

He took the Constitutional oath of office, administered by Associate Justice John Paul Stevens at the White House, that same day.

On October 3, he took the judicial oath provided for by the Judiciary Act of 1789 at the United States Supreme Court building, prior to the first oral arguments of the 2005 term.

The positive review of Roberts's qualifications for the Court came amid an ongoing dispute between the White House and the ABA over the association's role in vetting judicial candidates.

The Times denied any attempts to unseal legal records and stated that "[o]ur reporters made initial inquiries about the adoptions" and "[t]hey did so with great care, understanding the sensitivity of the issue."

The adoption community is outraged that, for obviously political reasons, the Times has targeted the very private circumstances, motivations, and processes by which the Roberts became parents.

Even before the ad was shown on television, White House spokesman Steve Schmidt responded to them, describing the claims as "outrageously false, bordering on the slanderous."

While Roberts in his amicus brief for the Government, argued that abortion protestors could not be prosecuted federally for discrimination, he pointed out that the defendants obstruction was illegal under Virginia law.

[citation needed] NARAL argued that "This wasn't an arcane legal dispute, but a fight over whether or not law enforcement could use their most effective weapon [the Klan Act] against extremists who use violence.

National Review Online argued that "The fact that this law failed to deter the 1998 bombing that injured the clinic worker featured in NARAL's ad makes it all the more ludicrous to suggest that Roberts's proper reading of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 in 1991 is somehow responsible.

The Senate Majority Leader, Republican Bill Frist, anticipated no problems, saying, "I still expect Judge Roberts to be confirmed before the Supreme Court starts its new term on October 3.

Charles Chaput, OFM Cap, Archbishop of Denver, noted that "many people already believe that a new kind of religious discrimination is very welcome at the Capitol, even among elected officials who claim to be Catholic," concluding that "the bias against 'papism' is alive and well in America."

On September 13, during the second day of confirmation hearings Senator Arlen Specter asked Roberts whether his faith would affect his opinions on the bench.

Roberts declined to endorse President Kennedy's statement that "separation of church and state is absolute," telling Feinstein, "I don't know what you mean by 'absolute'."

Some consider such questioning to be a revival of anti-Catholic bigotry reminiscent of the public concern about Catholic influence that presidential candidate John F. Kennedy faced in 1960, and exemplified by the controversial Blaine Amendments.

[23] Later that same day, the 50-year-old Roberts was given the general Constitutional oath by the senior Associate Justice, John Paul Stevens, in a ceremony at the White House.