Membership has its privileges

When Supreme Court nominee John Roberts's biography hit the presses last week, membership in the Federalist Society seemed like just another conservative touchpoint. Certainly not a deal breaker. So why is Roberts so concerned about it?

Having served only two years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit after a long career as a government and private-sector lawyer, Roberts has not amassed much of a public paper record that would show his judicial philosophy. Working with the Federalist Society would provide some clue of his sympathies. The organization keeps its membership rolls secret, but many key policymakers in the Bush administration are acknowledged current or former members.

Roberts has burnished his legal image carefully. When news organizations have reported his membership in the society, he or others speaking on his behalf have sought corrections. Last week, the White House told news organizations that had reported his membership in the group that he had no memory of belonging. The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today and the Associated Press printed corrections.

Over the weekend, The Post obtained a copy of the Federalist Society Lawyers' Division Leadership Directory, 1997-1998. It lists Roberts, then a partner at the law firm Hogan & Hartson, as a member of the steering committee of the organization's Washington chapter and includes his firm's address and telephone number.

Roberts denies being a "dues-paying" member. So what? The Federalist Society is bankrolled by conservative groups, and does not rely on members' dues.

This all illustrates how Washington works, I suppose. Plausible deniability regarding where your sympathies and associations lie, in order to avoid having to answer questions about those associations should, ya know, a confirmation hearing ever be on the horizon. While at the same time taking advantage of the networking possibilities those associations make possible and to use them as a kind of secret handshake with the like-minded.