When it comes to insisting Supreme Court nominees discuss how they would rule on future cases, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., has apparently done a philosophical U-turn.
The senator has been vocal recently about President Bush's nominee John Roberts, saying the federal judge "will be expected to answer fully" any questions about his views on controversial issues; but the Democrat sang a different tune in 1967, when he noted that candidates should "defer any comments" on such matters.
Cybercast News Service obtained 38-year-old film footage of Kennedy, who was responding to a question about senators grilling Thurgood Marshall about how he might rule in future cases should he be on the nation's highest court.
"We have to respect that any nominee to the Supreme Court would have to defer any comments on any matters, which are either before the court or very likely to be before the court," Kennedy said during the 1967 press conference. "This has been a procedure which has been followed in the past and is one which I think is based upon sound legal precedent."
