President names Alito
Moving to rebuild his conservative political coalition and hoping to shift the Supreme Court toward the Right, President Bush on Monday selected Circuit Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr., as his nominee to succeed Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. The President’s announcement and Judge Alito’s remarks can be found here.
Bush, a President who has refused repeatedly to govern from the center, maintained that approach in selecting a judge who is well known as a committed conservative.
Liberal observers of the Court immediately pointed to a handful of Judge Alito’s opinions on the Third Circuit as indications of just how conservative they expect him to be. Among those cited, for example, by americanprogress.org were these: 1991, supporting abortion restrictions, in the Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision that later went to the Supreme Court and led to the partial reaffirmation of Roe v. Wade; in 1997, in Bray v. Marriott Hotels, seeming to endorse a limited view of minorities’ job rights; in 1991, in Nathanson v. Medical College, appearing to embrace tougher standard for asserting disability rights; in 2000, in Chittister v. Department of Community and Economic Development, finding that Congress had gone too far in passing the Family and Medical Leave Act; in 2004, in Doe v. Groody, embracing broader police search power, including strip searches; and in 2004, Dia v. Ashcroft and Ki Se Lee v. Ashcroft, taking a hard line against immigrants’ rights.
Alito has a lengthy resume, filled with strong indications that he is qualified professionally. Those who know him personally, and those who have served with him and appeared before the Third Circuit, have said he is an even-tempered individual. Some expect him to attempt to become a consensus-builder on the Supreme Court, and to be less aggressive in advancing his conservative views than Justice Antonin Scalia is known to be.
The President’s announcement stressed Alito’s lengthy career in the law, and 15 years as an appellate judge, which marked a stark contrast with the thin list of similar accomplishments by Harriet E. Miers, the White House Counsel whose nomination to the Court was withdrawn last week after a severe assault by the President’s most conservative followers.
As expected, Democrats immediately signaled a hard fight against Alito’s nomination, with backup support from an array of liberal activist organizations. Senate minority leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said in a statement that this nomination “requires an especially long hard look by the Senate” because of the demand by conservatives that a “radical” to their liking be named.
In what is expected to be a primary “talking point” among Democrats, Reid said: “Justice O’Connor has been the deciding vote in key cases protecting individual rights and freedoms on a narrowly divided Court. The stakes in selecting her replacement are high.”
One of the liberal groups that has long spoiled for a fight with Bush over a Supreme Court nomination, People for the American Way, promised a “massive national effort to defeat Alito’s nomination” because he “would dramatically shift the balance on the Court.”
Conservative organizations, intent on having an identifiably conservative replacement for O’Connor, will be mounting an equally strong national effort, to support Alito’s confirmation. The American Center for Law and Justice, for example, praised the President for fulfilling a promise “of choosing nominees to the Supreme Court who are in the mold of Justices Scalia and Thomas.” The ACLJ is expected to be one of the more active groups in pushing this nominee.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Scotus-Alito-Profile.html
Judge Alito’s service in the U.S. Army Reserve is interesting:
AB, Princeton, 1972; JD, Yale, 1975.
Served in the Army Reserves from 1972 until 1980 when he was discharged as a captain. (The typical committment was for six years. Did he re-enlist while working for as an assistant U.S. Attorney? Why?
Alito clerked for Judge Leonard Garth of the Third Circuit, who is now his colleague on that court, from 1976 to 1977.
From 1977-1980, Alito served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the appellate division, where he argued cases before the circuit court to which he was later appointed.
So, what did he do in the U.S. Army Reserve?
Why did he join after graduating from Princeton? Was he ROTC?
The Vietnam draft was ending in June 1972, if I recall correctly.
Comment by Neil J. Lehto — October 31, 2005 @ 11:46 am
The President’s nomination of Third Circuit Judge Sam Alito to serve on the Supreme Court is good news.
It’s ironic that he is not getting more credit for his rulings in support of civil liberties. Alito has issued landmark decisions upholding the First Amendment rights of students, the press, businesses, and trade associations (e.g., Pfizer v. Giles (1995), Pitt News v. Pappert (2004)). In summarizing his record, the ACLU doesn’t mention any of these decisions. It should have. Freedom of speech is at the core of civil liberties.
Alito’s rulings have also shown a grasp of the regulatory and legal challenges facing businesses, which often seems lacking on the current Supreme Court.
The vast majority of the decisions authored by Judge Alito, including his most important decisions, have been unanimous decisions, joined by his colleagues of both political parties.
Judge Alito is well within the judicial mainstream. He has experience and expertise in the kinds of cases that the Supreme Court handles and, by any measure, is well-qualified to sit on the Supreme Court.
Comment by Hans Bader — October 31, 2005 @ 3:36 pm
http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2005/10/28/news/13656.shtml
Judge Alito was among a handful of ROTC members at Princeton, according to the campus newspaper yesterday.
Where did he serve in the Army Reserve and why did he re-enlist in 1978?
Comment by Neil J. Lehto — November 1, 2005 @ 7:55 am
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/01/politics/politicsspecial1/01alito.html?hp&ex=1130907600&en=4ae0c645f89137e0&ei=5094&partner=homepage
“Mr. Dwyer said he was not surprised when his friend joined the R.O.T.C. at Princeton after he learned his number in the draft lottery in his sophomore year. “We were all worried about the draft, and Sam’s number was really low – 25, give or take,” Mr. Dwyer said. “Being in R.O.T.C. was a way to be an officer, and that would seem to be better than being an enlisted man.”
“With campuses nationwide embroiled in Vietnam War protests, Princeton decided in 1970 to phase out the R.O.T.C., allowing those already enrolled to finish up. When Judge Alito graduated in 1972, he was just one of 12 R.O.T.C. members in the class.
“He was commissioned as an Army second lieutenant at graduation, but went to law school and served on active duty for just three months in 1975, though he remained in the Army Reserve until 1980.”
Where did he serve in the Army Reserve? Where did he serve on active duty? And why did he re-enlist?
Comment by Neil J. Lehto — November 1, 2005 @ 10:51 am
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj–alito-army1102nov02,0,6705603.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey:
“In the questionnaire Alito submitted to the Senate in 1990, when he was up for a seat on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, he wrote of his military service:
“I was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army upon graduation from college in 1972. After law school, I was on active duty for training from September to December 1975. I was in the Army reserves from 1972 to 1980, when I was honorably discharged as a captain.”
Documents from Princeton show that Alito, then an Army cadet, received six weeks of “practical application in military leadership at the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps’ basic summer camp at Fort Knox, Ky., June 12 to July 23″ in 1970.
“He will train as a small unit leader and instructor in realistic exercises, and will receive command experience and the opportunity to apply classroom knowledge in the field,” the document said.
Alito delayed entering the service while at law school and then spent time in 1975 at Fort Gordon, Ga., for signal officer training. He was on the inactive reserve for a period and then promoted to captain before he was honorably discharged in 1980.”
Comment by Neil J. Lehto — November 2, 2005 @ 5:43 pm