On July 3, 1997, John Roberts participated in a panel discussion of the recently completed Supreme Court term on the PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. The transcript is here, courtesy of Jack Lewis. When asked whether the Supreme Court was conservative, he offered the following response:

  Well, I think it's a moderate court but one that is very serious about the limits it sees in the Constitution, whether it's the limits on Congress, limitations on the federal government, or limitations on the court, itself. And if it's a court that doesn't seem so warm and embracing of theories that are popular on the law school campuses, I hope the other members of the panel will forgive me for not thinking that's a serious flaw.