The nomination of federal appeals court Judge John G. Roberts Jr. to the U.S. Supreme Court sent a wave through Maine political and legal circles Wednesday, with some expressing doubts about the nominee’s stance on abortion rights and others lauding his history as a fair and apolitical arbiter.

“He has a great respect for the law and the institution of the Supreme Court,” said Portland attorney William Kayatta, who edited the Harvard Law Review with Roberts in the late 1970s. “He’s conservative in the old-fashioned sense, not the modern, political sense.”

But characterizations such as Kayatta’s do little to allay concerns of potential opponents of Roberts, who if confirmed by the Senate, would replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. O’Connor, who announced her retirement July 1, has long proved a swing vote on many social issues on the closely divided court.

“We have some deep concerns about some of his civil liberties positions,” Shenna Bellows, executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, said Wednesday, citing Roberts’ past conservative stances on abortion rights, flag burning and school prayer.

Like those of other left-leaning advocacy groups, however, Bellows’ criticisms were tempered. And she was quick to stress that the MCLU and its parent organization, the American Civil Liberties Union, have not taken an official position on the nomination, announced at a prime time White House news conference Tuesday.

Similarly, Sarah Standiford, executive director of the Maine Women’s Policy Center, expressed doubts about whether Roberts would uphold a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion – but no formal opposition to his candidacy.

“We are going to pay close attention to the process as it moves forward,” said Standiford, citing, as many have, a 1990 legal brief he co-wrote suggesting the court overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion in the U.S.

That brief, written on behalf of the first Bush administration, has prompted formal opposition to his nomination from national groups, including NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Feminist Majority Foundation.

In a more recent discussion of the issue, however, Roberts called Roe the “settled law of the land” and told senators at his 2003 confirmation hearing to the federal appeals court, “There is nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent.”

In a way, the Maine debate serves as a microcosm of that which will ensue inside the Beltway over the next month or two leading up to Roberts’ confirmation hearings, expected to begin in late August or early September.

Politically, Roberts, 50, is seen as a safe choice for President Bush, and some Senate moderates – including U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn. – have already predicted the nomination would not prompt a Democratic filibuster.

Although a judge for only two years, Roberts has argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court and is widely known and respected in legal and political circles, according to many accounts. As evidenced by Kayatta’s relationship with the nominee, those circles even extend to Maine.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Kayatta, a partner at the Portland firm Pierce Atwood, dismissed some of the more pointed opposition to Roberts, including those who consider his brief time on the bench a liability.

“For other people it would be, but John has had the demeanor of a judge since he was 19,” said Kayatta, a lifelong Democrat, cautioning advocacy groups on either end of the political spectrum from thinking Roberts would blindly support their cause.

“He’s going to decide the case at the time it comes up by listening to the views of other people and giving weight to what’s already been decided and trying to get it right,” Kayatta said. “He’s not going to be an automatic vote on any side.”

Kayatta, who recently worked with Roberts on a case before the Supreme Court, also offered a personal assessment of his law school colleague as a serious student whose greatest vice was eating too many doughnuts.

“He has not led a life that would please Hollywood,” Kayatta said.