U.S. Sen. Richard Burr wants to know more about Sonia Sotomayor's views.

In a statement to Dome, the Winston-Salem Republican said that he is committed to a "thorough and fair" confirmation process for President Obama's Supreme Court nominee.

"While her personal story is indeed inspiring, I hope that through the confirmation process we will have an opportunity to fully review her judicial experience and record," he said.

Burr has previously said he is looking for a "highly qualified nominee who respects the Constitution" and will not legislate "from the bench."

He voted for the confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts in 2005 and Justice Samuel Alito in 2006.

Related: Hagan 'pleased with nominee.

Full statement after the jump.

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U.S. Sen. Richard Burr is waiting to see who President Obama recommends.

The Winston-Salem Republican gave a brief description of his ideal Supreme Court candidate in a statement to Dome today.

"I look forward to working with President Obama to find a highly-qualified nominee who respects the Constitution and does not believe in legislating from the bench," he said.

Burr voted for Chief Justice John Roberts in 2005 and Samuel Alito in 2006. He gave a neutral statement on Harriet Miers' failed nomination, saying he would "carefully review" her qualifications.

He also thanked retiring Justice David Souter for his "years of service to our country."

Full statement after the jump.

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Law students participating in a moot court competition at N.C. Central University this month may be more nervous than usual.

Presiding over the panel will be Chief Justice John G. Roberts.

Roberts' two-day visit on Monday and Tuesday, April 13 and 14, will be the first time a U.S. chief justice has come to the school in its 70-year history.

On April 13, Roberts will conduct a swearing-in ceremony to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar for graduates of the NCCU law school.

The moot court event, to take place April 14, will not be open to the public or the media, NCCU officials said. Roberts will serve on the moot court panel with Judge Allyson Duncan, a judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and retired state Chief Justice Henry Frye.

Roberts also will attend a lunch with students.

John McCain says he would appoint similar Supreme Court justices as George W. Bush.

Speaking at Wake Forest University today, the putative Republican presidential nominee accused Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama of favoring "activist judges," Bloomberg reports.

McCain praised Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, appointed by Bush, as "jurists of the highest caliber."

His views on the Supreme Court are being carefully watched because McCain was one of a bipartisan group, called the Gang of 14, that steered a middle course on Bush's appointments. The next president may also have an opportunity to make several appointments, with four justices over the age of 70.

In the speech, McCain noted that Obama opposed Roberts' appointment in 2005, saying that the toughest Supreme Court cases "can only be determined on the basis of one's deepest values, one's core concerns, one's broader perspectives on how the world works and the depth and breadth of one's empathy."

McCain said the comments "attempt to justify judicial activism."

Speaking of both Obama and Clinton, he added, "apparently nobody quite fits the bill except for an elite group of activist judges, lawyers and law professors who think they know wisdom when they see it."

John Roberts died a broken man.

The Carteret County resident was elected to the state House of Commons in 1804 and served 12 terms before being chosen for the Senate in 1816, according to "The Dictionary of North Carolina Biography," edited by William S. Powell.

In 1814, Roberts served as an assistant paymaster general for his district's state militia during the War of 1812. It proved his undoing.

In December of 1816, the General Assembly received several petitions from militiamen who complained that they weren't paid by him.

A joint legislative committee found evidence of forgery and fraud and Roberts was expelled. After several years in jail and two trials, Roberts was released in 1822 and pardoned by the governor.

"Roberts never fully recovered from his ordeal, and court records from his home county suggested that he was dead by March 1823," the book notes.

Hat Tip: Lamara Hackett 

John Roberts did not do well after he was expelled.

A footnote in "Ante-Bellum North Carolina" by Guion Griffis Johnson paints a sad picture of the Carteret County senator, who was kicked out of the legislature in 1816 for fraud.

Roberts had been appointed assistant pay master of the militia during the War of 1812, Johnson writes. In 1816, misconduct charges were levied against him and he was imprisoned without bail awaiting trial, he writes, citing a Nov. 28, 1822, manuscript in the House's legislative papers.

After six years these charges were still being prosecuted "and his person not only frequently imprisoned but even loaded with irons, and the most galling and unprovoked indignities, insults and contumely offered, and in some instances, a wantonly brutal, and unnecessary cruelty indulged in to him, by men assuming to have him in charge as a Prisoner.

In 1822, Roberts was still in the Wake County jail, without a bed, warm clothing, a fire or other provisions, Johnson writes.

Hat Tip: Lamara Hackett

Jim Neal took questions at a liberal blog this weekend.

In a liveblog on Pam's House Blend, the Chapel Hill investment banker said the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on gays in the military is "ludicrous" and the immigration system "doesn't work."

A candidate for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, he also said he opposed the appointment of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court and supports more aggressive emissions standards on cars.

When asked how he felt about the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's treatment of his candidacy, Neal said he won't need its support if he can get enough smaller donors.

"The DSCC doesn't vote in North Carolina," he said. "We have elections and primaries and not coronations. That's why it's critical to raise the funds to compete in a statewide race."