National and local advocacy groups are taking public sides over President Bush's choice for Supreme Court justice.

01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, August 10, 2005

BY ELIZABETH GUDRAIS
Journal Staff Writer

The nationwide battle over the Supreme Court nomination of John G. Roberts Jr. comes to Rhode Island this week, with interest groups duking it out in rallies and advertisements.

This is one of just two states where a commercial criticizing Roberts' record on abortion is airing on local stations. The nation's leading abortion-rights group, NARAL Pro-Choice America, is spending $500,000 to run the ad on CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC and local stations in Maine and Rhode Island, starting today.

Rhode Island is being targeted because Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee has not yet taken a position on Roberts' nomination.

The 30-second ad accuses Roberts of "supporting violent fringe groups and a convicted clinic bomber."

That's a reference to Bray v. Alexandria Women's Clinic, a case in which Roberts -- then an assistant to the U.S. solicitor general -- argued that a federal civil-rights law should not be used to prevent anti-abortion protesters from blocking access to women's clinics. (The court's 1993 ruling sided, 6 to 3, with Roberts and the first Bush administration. Sandra Day O'Connor, the justice Roberts would replace, was among the dissenters who agreed the protesters denied women their right to abortion.)

In response to the NARAL ad, the conservative group Progress for America announced late yesterday afternoon it would spend $300,000 to air its own 30-second spot on the same stations starting tomorrow. Progress for America's president, Brian McCabe, accused NARAL of "blatant deception."

"How low can these frustrated liberals sink?" Progress for America's ad asks, according to a script released yesterday.

Progress for America already planned a campaign of banner ads on projo.com, as well as the Channel 10 and Cox Cable news Web sites.

The Internet ad, which first appeared Monday, simply directs viewers to the Web site www.RIforJudgeRoberts.com. That site, paid for by Progress for America, contains Roberts' biography and links to a form letter and petition supporting him.

Nationally, that ad campaign cost Progress for America $60,000 in 20 states, with the money distributed roughly evenly between states, said Denevan O'Connell, of the public relations firm Gildea, O'Connell & Darlington, with offices in Warwick and Boston.

In Kennedy Plaza yesterday, Rhode Islanders for a Fair Judiciary kicked off a week of events titled "Justice Every Day."

For now, the group -- a coalition of mostly liberal causes -- isn't taking a position for or against Roberts' confirmation.

Members handed out postcards addressed to Rhode Island's senators, Jack Reed and Chafee, with blanks for the constituent's name, address and comments.

"I believe the people of Rhode Island need a full understanding of any nominee's political background and judicial philosophy and positions," the postcard's preprinted message reads, in part. "I expect our Senators to . . . perform their important Constitutional duty of giving advice and consent on this and future presidential nominations to the Supreme Court."

The coalition's members are "deeply concerned about the White House's refusal to release documents from Roberts' work during the Reagan years and the first Bush presidency," Marti Rosenberg, executive director of Ocean State Action, said yesterday. "We are asking Senators Reed and Chafee to request the documents, to look at them extremely carefully, and to make their decision based on analysis of what Judge Roberts is likely to do with the rights that Rhode Islanders hold dear."

Justice Every Day is a direct response to "Justice Sunday II: God Save the United States and this Honorable Court!" -- a rally that will be broadcast live to churches around the country, as well as on Christian radio and TV stations, from a Baptist Church in Nashville Sunday at 7 p.m. Featured speakers include House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and U.S. Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga., as well as representatives of the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, the Catholic League and the National Association of Evangelicals.

"Presidents shape policy for a few years, but Supreme Court justices impact our culture for generations," a promotional audio clip on the event's Web site proclaims.

Members of Rhode Islanders for a Fair Judiciary say the explicit mix of politics and religion blurs the lines between church and state. Justice Every Day aims "to highlight the need for a fair and independent Supreme Court that will be there to defend the rights and freedoms of every person, not just on Sunday, but every day of the week," said Sakina Abdur-Rasheed of Sisters Overcoming Abusive Relationships -- an anti-domestic violence advocacy group that's part of the coalition.

Justice Every Day continues today with a celebration of Social Security's 70th birthday at 1:30 p.m. at the East Providence Senior Center.

Tomorrow, pro-choice groups will hold a rally in Kennedy Plaza at 5:30 p.m.

Saturday from 3 to 6 p.m. at Central High School, the Urban League of Rhode Island and SOAR will hand out the coalition's information and postcards at Black Fest.