The judge portion of a Byron York interview of Republican Presidential Candidate Senator Fred Thompson:

York: How would you approach Supreme Court nominations?

Thompson: I feel very strongly about this issue. Other than homeland security, and national security and issues of war and peace, it's the most important thing a president does. It's important that the president not only know and understand and learn about the people he's going to have to choose but he understands the underlying issues and hopefully knows how to read a case and knows who's following precedent and who's not and who's doing it from the seat of their pants based on their own views of social equity, versus the Constitution and the law.

I like Roberts and Alito and Scalia and Thomas. One of the best things that I got to do as a private citizen was to help get Justice Roberts through the confirmation process. It gave me an opportunity to go back through not only his cases but prior confirmation hearings, to re-steep myself in some of those issues. We're in a heck of a lot better shape because of Roberts and Alito, and one more gain would put us in even better shape.

YORK: Listening to the Roberts and Alito confirmation hearings, it didn't seem to be a slam dunk that they would someday vote to overturn Roe. What did you think?

THOMPSON: I think it's a fair assessment to say you can't come away from their hearings saying that anything is going to be a slam dunk. They are going to hear it objectively and dispassionately, with proper reliance on precedent, and not be results-oriented. That's the reason we need judges like this, because they're not results oriented. I think it gives a reassurance to the American people.