WASHINGTON (BP)–President Bush nominated federal appeals court judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court Oct. 31, immediately pleasing social conservatives and eliciting vociferous opposition from abortion rights advocates and other liberals.
The president nominated Alito, 55, only four days after his most recent nominee, White House counsel Harriet Miers, withdrew from consideration prior to Senate hearings. In Alito, Bush chose someone who contrasts sharply with Miers in some significant ways: He has a lengthy record as a judge and what appears to be a clearly enunciated judicial philosophy.
While Miers had never served as a judge, Alito has been a member of the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Philadelphia, since 1990. Prominently mentioned on the short lists for a Bush nomination, Alito has a reputation for judicial restraint and adherence to the text of the Constitution.
In announcing his nominee, the president described Alito as “one of the most accomplished and respected judges in America.” Alito “has more judicial experience than any Supreme Court nominee in more than 70 years,” Bush said. The president called him “scholarly, fair-minded and principled.”
Reaction to the nomination signaled the kind of battle that is expected before Senate action.
“The president has once again fulfilled his campaign promise to nominate to our nation’s federal judiciary strict constructionist, original intent jurists of the first rank,” said Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, in a written statement. The president “has underscored his commitment to the promises he made in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns. Colleagues who have worked with Judge Alito describe him as ‘brilliant,’ ‘fair’ and ‘tough,’ three important qualities in a federal judge.”
James Dobson of Focus on the Family said he was “extremely pleased,” adding Alito “has demonstrated that he understands the role of the judiciary is to interpret existing law in light of the Constitution, not make new law in service to a personal political agenda.” The criticism of Alito by liberal senators and advocacy organizations is possibly the “most encouraging early indication that Judge Alito will make a great justice,” Dobson said in a written release.
Jan LaRue, chief counsel of Concerned Women for America, said in a written statement, “Judge Alito has always been one of our top choices for the Supreme Court.”
Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, said Alito is “an incredibly wise choice” who “will galvanize conservatives.” Sekulow said in a written release, “President Bush promised that he would nominate justices in the mold of Justices [Antonin] Scalia and [Clarence] Thomas. In choosing Judge Alito for the high court, President Bush has done just that.”
Many critics of the Alito nomination portrayed Bush as caving in to the “right wing” after numerous conservatives opposed Miers because of questions about her judicial philosophy.
“Apparently, [Bush] couldn’t find a woman or minority or a mainstream nominee that meets the litmus tests of the right wing, and instead put forth a nominee with a troubling record on the rights and freedoms important to America’s families,” Sen. Edward Kennedy, D.-Mass., said in a written statement. “This is a nomination based on weakness, not on strength.”
Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way, called Alito a “far-right activist” who “would threaten Americans’ rights and legal protections for decades.”
Major abortion rights organizations –- including NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the National Organization for Women -– quickly announced their opposition. “Alito’s confirmation could shift the court in a direction that threatens to eviscerate the core protections for women’s freedom guaranteed by Roe v. Wade or overturn the landmark decision altogether,” NARAL President Nancy Keenan said in a written release.
Critics of Alito’s nomination point to his votes in some abortion cases as part of the reason for their opposition.
One case involves Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a critical 1992 Supreme Court decision that upheld some state restrictions but reaffirmed Roe v. Wade, the 1973 opinion legalizing abortion throughout the country. The case, which originated in Pennsylvania, came to the high court through the Third Circuit. In a 1991 ruling by that court, Alito was the lone dissenter to an opinion that struck down a provision requiring a woman to notify her husband before she had an abortion. The provision had five exceptions that permitted a woman to bypass notification. The Supreme Court rejected Alito’s argument and upheld the Third Circuit’s decision on spousal notification.
If confirmed, Alito will replace Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who announced her retirement July 1. O’Connor agreed to stay on the court until her replacement is confirmed. She has been a swing vote during her 24 years on the court, often siding with liberals in abortion and church-state cases. Bush’s decision to replace O’Connor with an apparent conservative also drew the ire of liberals.
It is uncertain how soon hearings before the Judiciary Committee and a floor vote for Alito’s confirmation might occur in the Senate. Majority Leader Bill Frist said Oct. 31 the Senate is on course to finish its business for the year by Thanksgiving but there could be action on the nomination in December. “If it’s possible to act, I will call the Senate back in to vote, up or down, on the Alito nomination” and other items, Frist said.
That timetable also would depend on whether the Democrats seek to delay a floor vote by means of a filibuster.
Fifteen years ago, the Senate confirmed Alito to the Third Circuit without dissent.
Alito said from the White House after Bush announced the nomination, “Federal judges have the duty to interpret the Constitution and the laws faithfully and fairly, to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and to do these things with care and with restraint, always keeping in mind the limited role that the courts play in our constitutional system. And I pledge that if confirmed I will do everything within my power to fulfill that responsibility.”
Like new Chief Justice John Roberts, Alito is a veteran of arguing cases before the high court. While working in the solicitor general’s office, he argued 12 times before the justices. Roberts argued nearly 40 cases before the Supreme Court.
The Senate confirmed Roberts Sept. 29 in a 78-22 vote. Roberts had served as a federal appeals court judge for only two years. His record, therefore, was much slimmer than Alito’s and did not contain votes in decisions on abortion and other controversial issues that Alito’s does.
Before Alito joined the Third Circuit, he served for 13 years in a U.S. attorney office and the Department of Justice. He was an assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey from 1977-81; assistant to the U.S. solicitor general at the Department of Justice from 1981-85; deputy assistant attorney general from 1985-87, and U.S. attorney in New Jersey from 1987-90. After graduation from Yale Law School, he was a law clerk in 1976-77 on the Third Circuit Court, where he now serves.
Alito, who is Roman Catholic, and his wife, Martha, have been married 20 years, and they have two children.
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