U.S. Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. offered advice to retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the eve of her confirmation hearing in 1981, The Washington Post reports.

Roberts was an aide to Attorney General William French Smith at the time. He wrote a memo to O'Connor and suggested that she not answer questions about cases that might come before the high court. The document was found among the newly released records from the National Archives and Records Administration [Link].

Roberts is set to go before the Senate for his confirmation hearings starting September 6. Naral Pro-Choice America is running television ads against Roberts, citing his work on an abortion case. The group says Roberts, while in the Department of Justice, defended protesters who were bombing abortion clinics but the ad was criticized for being misleading.

Get the Story:
In '81, Roberts Offered Counsel to O'Connor (The Washington Post 8/11)
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TV Ad Attacking Court Nominee Provokes Furor (The New York Times 8/11)
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Chairman Backs White House on Keeping Roberts's Memos (The New York Times 8/11)
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Relevant Links:
Federal Judicial Nominees, DOJ - http://www.usdoj.gov/olp/nominations.htm
NARF-NCAI Tribal Supreme Court Project - http://www.narf.org/sct/index.html

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