Heinz Kerry Promises Solid Judges

HOUSTON, Pa. — Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry would appoint Supreme Court justices who would safeguard half a century of civil rights gains, his wife said Friday.

“Fifty years after Brown vs. Board of Education, we are reminded now more than ever that we need a Supreme Court to protect our hard-won victories,” Teresa Heinz Kerry told the Pennsylvania State Conference of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.

“John Kerry will appoint judges that interpret our Constitution and don’t go there for political reasons,” she said.

The NAACP had invited President Bush to speak at the conference as well, but he declined and did not send a surrogate, said Burrell Brown, president of the state conference.

Responding to Heinz Kerry’s comments, Republican National Committee spokeswoman Heather Layman said Bush had vowed to appoint judges who would closely follow the Constitution, rather than “legislate from the bench.”