Alito still on fast track

Judge Samuel Alito looks to be in a strong position going into his Senate confirmation hearings next week. He received a “well-qualified rating” Wednesday from the American Bar Association, which based its rating on confidential interviews with hundreds of his colleagues and on analysis of his court writings.
The growing sense is that Alito is solidly conservative but not an ideologue; he garners high praise from former colleagues and students, even liberals, who have worked with him, as having a judicious and fair-minded temperament, with a healthy appreciation for minority rights.
Tough questions remain about his views on Roe v. Wade, executive powers and other knotty issues. But so far, Alito remains on a fast track to the Supremes.
Posted by Randy Scholfield

2 Comments

  1. CF
    Posted January 6, 2006 at 10:55 am | Permalink

    Rage and others,

    Randy’s recounting of the conventional wisdom on the Alito nomination shows that same wisdom to be quite out of touch. From the recent reporting yesterday and today, I believe he’s going to run into a buzzsaw at his confirmation hearing.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060106/ap_on_go_su_co/alito_filibuster;_ylt=Ao2TXjjnCM7FjkJm.4X.MVKs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-

    And well he should. Alito’s rulings and judicial philosophy both seem geared to granting the executive what it wants, toward insulating corporations from liability, and generally toward disempowing individuals. More importantly, while I don’t buy the whole ‘activist vs. interpreter’ way of labelling judges because I think it’s an intellectual fiction and a marketing ploy, Alito himself squarely counts as an activist. In particular, Alito doesn’t recognize the powers of Congress over against those of the President. This, of course, squares with the Executive power grab that has recently come to light. But don’t take my word for it: here’s Norman J. Ornstein, of the American Enterprise Institute, a heavy-duty, libertarian intellectual:

    http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.23406,filter.all/pub_detail.asp

    Finally, there’s a whole set of extra-judicial concerns that are directly relevant when considering someone for a lifetime seat on the SCOTUS. He was a member of Concerned Alumni of Princeton, a reactionary group that opposed the admission of minority students and coeducation, among other things. The link below is an excerpt from a NYT story.

    http://atheism.about.com/b/a/222768.htm

    Finally, there’s the matter of personal honesty. Alito, while applying for a job with the Reagan Administration, wrote on the application that he believed the Constitution did not contain the right to an abortion. Now, he claims that his views won’t prejudice his deciding cases regarding Roe that come before the court. Is this naive, or disingenuous? There are other issues as well–the conflict of interest over holding stock in a corporation called Vanguard and then repeatedly ruling in its favor–but this is probably enough.

    So, the conventional wisdom is all wet. Senate Democrats appear to be positioning themselves for a bruising fight, and given Alito’s questionable judicial philosophy and the elements of his personal history that are dubious, they should.

    This may get as ugly as the Bork hearings. Shame on George Bush for nominating someone so far out of the mainstream of American life and constitutional law. And God help us all, left, right, and center, if he is confirmed.

    (Rage, thanks for your comment on the Miers thread that provoked me to post.)

  2. PL
    Posted January 6, 2006 at 11:29 am | Permalink

    Judge Alito ruled that a company whose employees constantly harassed a mentally retarded worker–including trying to sodomize him with a broomstick in front of a group of gawkers–was not in the least guilty of creating a negative work environment.

    Okay . . .