WASHINGTON — Federal appellate Judge John Roberts has begun making courtesy calls on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will soon hold confirmation hearings on Roberts' nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

And Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the second-ranking Republican on the committee meeting with Roberts Thursday morning, was impressed with what he heard from the man nominated by President Bush to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the high court.

"We had a terrific conversation this morning for about an hour, and I don't see how anyone can be opposed to this nominee," Hatch said. "It's clear why Judge Roberts was considered the premier appellate lawyer in the country."

Added Hatch, "He is as intelligent and articulate as they come. He's a decent, honorable man who listens well, gives thoughtful opinions, and has an easygoing but very focused manner — he has the perfect judicial temperament, in other words."

Roberts has scheduled courtesy calls on all members of the Judiciary Committee, including Democrats who have been restrained in their criticism of the nominee. The same cannot be said of liberal advocacy groups, primarily abortion rights proponents, who continue to label Roberts as unsuitable for the high court and an extremist.

Roberts' confirmation could greatly alter how the court votes. O'Connor was often the court's swing vote, casting the deciding vote in a number of controversial issues.

Her votes to uphold abortion rights angered conservatives, who are now looking to Roberts as the possible fifth vote that could overturn Roe v. Wade. And abortion rights advocates fear that Roberts will tip the balance of the court, and they have launched a campaign to defeat his nomination.

The focus of Roberts' nomination now shifts to the Republican-controlled Senate. The Judiciary Committee will now hold hearings and a vote, after which the full Senate will take up the matter.

There remains the possibility, under Senate rules, that members of the minority could filibuster the nomination, thereby blocking a vote on the confirmation. A tenuous compromise on judicial filibusters, orchestrated by a "gang" of seven Republicans and seven Democrats, averted a showdown with Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who had threatened to change the Senate rules to end filibusters with a simple majority.

Conservative senators insist the so-called nuclear option remains on the table if Democrats do not allow an up-or-down vote on Roberts.

In a speech from the Senate floor Wednesday, Hatch cautioned against those who would demand to know how Roberts would vote on certain issues, like abortion.

"Judges are like umpires or referees," Hatch said. "They are neutral officials who take rules they did not make and cannot change, and apply those rules to a contest between two parties. They do not pick the winner before the game starts, nor do they manipulate the process along the way to produce the winner they want."

Hatch added that if the American people do not like what the "faithful and impartial application of the law produces," then they should change the law, not expect judges to rewrite the law.

"Expecting judges to do our job undermines the judicial branch and demeans the legislative branch," he said.

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