It appears that Roberts' statements were made after being pressed by Sen. Alrene Specter on whether the abortion ruling was settled law. Roberts responded, "Well, beyond that, it's settled as a precedent of the court, entitled to respect under principles of stare decisis. And those principles, applied in the Casey case, explain when cases should be revisited and when they should not."

"I think it is a jolt to the legal system when you overturn precedent," Roberts said. "It is not enough that you may think that a prior decision was wrongly decided."

It would probably be beneficial to read the full transcript of the exchange leading to Roberts' statements. Yet, news reports suggesting that he agrees that precedent settles abortion are discouraging (to say the least). I have to wonder how judicial activism can ever be undone.

In addition, when questioned about his faith, the nominee asserted, "There's nothing in my personal views based on faith or other sources that would prevent me from applying the precedent of the court faithfully under the principles of stare decisis."