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The Chief

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Chief Justice John Roberts once vowed to “call balls and strikes and not to pitch or bat.” Tuesday, journalist Joan Biskupic joins us to assess Roberts's track record. Has he been the umpire-in-chief he promised?

RadioWest divider.

In his Supreme Court confirmation hearings, John Roberts vowed to act as an umpire of the law, to “call balls and strikes and not to pitch or bat.” How then are we to understand the numerous conservative victories handed down by the Roberts court? We’re talking significant decisions on issues like voting rights, campaign finance, and abortion. The journalist Joan Biskupic is our guest Tuesday. She argues that Roberts is juggling his conservative agenda with the court’s popular image and his personal legacy.

Joan Biskupic is a legal analyst for CNN. She has written biographies of Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Sandra Day O'Connor and the late Antonin Scalia. Her new book is The Chief: The Life and Turbulent Times of Chief Justice John Roberts [Indie bookstores|Amazon|Audible].

Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
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