Archive: December 11, 2005 - December 17, 2005
Don't Run From the Truth-Bruce Fein on Alito
"Misreading Robert H. Bork's 1987 shipwreck, the White House is bizarrely instructing its Supreme Court nominees to disown their prior attacks on wayward constitutional thinking from the high court. "
By Fred Barbash | December 17, 2005; 9:19 PM ET | Comments (5)
Judge Alito on Civil Rights-Washington Post Editorial
Judge Alito on Civil Rights "Judge Alito, in short, has sometimes taken a narrower view than we believe healthy of statutory civil rights protections, but his record does not support the frequent descriptions of him as a knee-jerk reactionary"...
By Fred Barbash | December 17, 2005; 9:02 AM ET | Email a Comment
Alito's America-Center for American Progress anti-Alito site.
See a video or podcast called "Alito's America," a cartoonish portrayal of a future filled with machine guns and strip searches.
By Fred Barbash | December 16, 2005; 3:39 AM ET | Comments (2)
National Women's Law Center releases report critical of Alito.
"The National Women’s Law Center today released a comprehensive analysis of Judge Samuel Alito’s record as it affects women’s legal rights. The report documents Alito’s extremely troubling record and suggests that he would be the antithesis of Justice O’Connor and would shift the Court to weaken or roll back core women’s rights and legal protections."
By Fred Barbash | December 15, 2005; 4:34 PM ET | Comments (1)
Fidelis Responds to NARAL Report on Alito
"This is yet another example of how radical pro-abortion liberal groups want to dictate their agenda of unregulated abortion on demand with activist judges rather than through the proper course of legislative debate and law," Fidelis President Joseph Cella stated."
By Fred Barbash | December 15, 2005; 4:02 PM ET | Email a Comment
NARAL Pro-Choice America issues Alito Report
"Whether Samuel Alito would vote to overrule Roe v. Wade and whether his vote would be the last necessary step to Roe’s demise are not the only questions before the Senate or the American public. For overruling Roe is not the only way to end legal abortion or make access so difficult, expensive, and dangerous that abortion’s legality is practically meaningless. Indeed, overturning Roe outright is not the most likely avenue for the Court and anti-choice legislatures to take in the near term.
By Fred Barbash | December 15, 2005; 11:30 AM ET | Comments (1)
Sen. Dorgan: Alito "bright and knowledgeable."
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., described Judge Samuel Alito as "bright and knowledgeable" after meeting with him in Washington on Wednesday, but he said he would wait until next year to make a decision on the Supreme Court nominee.
By Fred Barbash | December 15, 2005; 6:50 AM ET | Email a Comment
Civil Rights Groups, AFL-CIO Oppose Alito
The AFL-CIO and several civil rights organizations said Wednesday they would oppose Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's confirmation in the Senate.
By Fred Barbash | December 14, 2005; 6:35 PM ET | Comments (2)
C-SPAN To Air Alito Profile Saturday-Press Release
This week's America and the Courts looks at the life and career of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. We interviewed Bill Agress, a former high school classmate, Michael Giordano, who coached little league baseball with Judge Alito, and his former colleague in the Solicitor General's office, Carter Phillips.
By Fred Barbash | December 14, 2005; 12:11 PM ET | Comments (1)
NAM Supports Confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito--Press Release
"Judge Alito clearly has one of the most distinguished records of any nominee to the Supreme Court in our own time or any other time,” said NAM President John Engler. “He has served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit since 1990, and has compiled an extensive record of distinction. After an exhaustive review of his opinions and decisions, it is clear to us that he will be a Justice committed to interpreting the law as written, not an activist who will try to legislate from the bench. Business depends on a legal system that is fair and predictable.”
By Fred Barbash | December 14, 2005; 12:06 PM ET | Comments (2)
Green Groups Mobilize Against Alito-Wall Street Journal
Environmentalists declined to join women's groups, civil-rights organizations and gay-rights activists in opposing the nomination of Chief Justice John Roberts. But the green community is mobilizing against the Supreme Court bid of Judge Samuel Alito, citing rulings during his 15 years on the bench that suggest to them a constitutional view that could limit laws on clean air, clean water and similar issues
By Fred Barbash | December 14, 2005; 11:47 AM ET | Email a Comment
Pro-Alito Buzz Cloaks a Draconian Agenda-The Nation
While they talk about judicial modesty, movement conservatives pursue their goals by advocating legal tactics that are downright immodest. A truly restrained judiciary respects the decisions of prior courts and defers to the decisions of the elected branches of government. Yet movement conservatives want to scuttle precedent, strike down hard-won legislation and render other laws toothless.
By Fred Barbash | December 14, 2005; 11:39 AM ET | Comments (2)
Alito hearings to be rougher than Roberts'--Knight Ridder
One month before the start of his confirmation hearing for a seat on the Supreme Court, Samuel Alito faces a much more hostile Senate than did the man who preceded him - Chief Justice John G. Roberts."
By Fred Barbash | December 14, 2005; 3:41 AM ET | Email a Comment
Specter seeks Alito's views on power of precedent-Reuters
The Senate Republican who will preside over Judge Samuel Alito's Supreme Court confirmation hearings next month asked him on Tuesday about the role of precedent in key aspects of criminal law and religious freedom of expression.
By Fred Barbash | December 14, 2005; 3:39 AM ET | Email a Comment
For Specter, Alito hearings pose internal struggle-USA TODAY
For Sen. Arlen Specter, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's confirmation hearings next month will pit his deeply held political beliefs against his personal ties to the judge and his loyalty to the Republican Party.
By Fred Barbash | December 14, 2005; 3:38 AM ET | Email a Comment
Internet Ads Back Nominee on Search Case - New York Times
As part of what they are calling 'law enforcement week,' conservative backers of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. began circulating an Internet advertisement on Tuesday defending the judge's argument that the police were justified in strip-searching the young daughter of a man suspected of dealing drugs.
By Fred Barbash | December 14, 2005; 3:35 AM ET | Email a Comment
Disability Organizatons to Announce Opposition to Alito
Disability organizations will announce their opposition to the nomination of Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Samuel Alito Wednesday.
By Fred Barbash | December 13, 2005; 6:56 PM ET | Email a Comment
Sen. Salazar and Allito
"U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar attacked Focus on the Family at a luncheon in Denver after the non-profit group took ads out in the newspaper labeling him a flip-flopper in regard to the nomination of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court."
By Fred Barbash | December 13, 2005; 6:53 PM ET | Comments (1)
Feingold Won't Rule Out Alito Filibuster - AP
"Certainly nobody I know is," said the Wisconsin senator, who is considered a possible Democratic presidential nominee in 2008. "But I'm not going to take it off the table. It's my right as a senator and it's an important right."
By Fred Barbash | December 13, 2005; 6:51 PM ET | Comments (1)
Lobby Groups Following Bork Playbook for Alito-Law.com
By. T.R. GoldmanWith Senate Democrats clearly outnumbered, liberal interest groups are staking their campaign against Samuel Alito Jr. on a simple strategy: Transform Alito into Robert Bork by any means possible -- whether the shoe fits or not....
By Fred Barbash | December 13, 2005; 6:22 AM ET | Comments (4)
Step up Alito fight, right urges GOP--The Hill
By Alexander BoltonRepublican senators are doing little to defend Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito as their Democratic counterparts and allied liberal groups co-operate to build political momentum against his confirmation, say GOP and conservative strategists working on his nomination....
By Fred Barbash | December 13, 2005; 6:04 AM ET | Comments (1)
Judicial Confirmation Network's new ad about "left wing extremists" allied with "drug dealers.
The Judicial Confirmation Network offers a new pro-Alito ad that says "left wing extremists" opposing his confirmation "have found new allies in drug dealers who hide their drugs on children."...
By Fred Barbash | December 12, 2005; 3:46 PM ET | Comments (5)
Alliance for Justice launches "Rolling Justice"
The Alliance for Justice announces a grassroots campaign to defeat the Alito nomination. It's stated purpose is "bringing people together to travel through small cities and towns in eleven states to discuss the Alito nomination with their neighbors. "...
By Fred Barbash | December 12, 2005; 3:37 PM ET | Email a Comment
Progress For America Pro Alito ad
Progress for America announced today a 4 day $150,000 ad buy in support of the Alito nomination. Click here to see it....
By Fred Barbash | December 12, 2005; 12:34 PM ET | Comments (4)
The Left's Ludicrous Attack on Alito: National Review Online
By Edward Whelan "Through some combination of laughable incompetence and shameless mendacity, the Left persists in presenting as evidence of Alito's purported extremism a case in which the Supreme Court unanimously embraced his position. Alito's attackers have amply proved that they simply can't be trusted, and it's long past time for the media to stop trusting them and to stop recklessly recycling their wild charges."...
By Fred Barbash | December 12, 2005; 9:36 AM ET | Comments (10)
Frist on Alito Filibuster
From the Associated Press: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Sunday he is prepared to strip Democrats of their to ability to filibuster if they try to stall Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court. "The answer is yes," Frist said when asked if he would act to change Senate procedures to restrict a Democratic filibuster. "Supreme Court justice nominees deserve an up-or-down vote, and it would be absolutely wrong to deny him that." In recent weeks, Senate Democrats have questioned whether Alito, a federal appeals court judge, has the proper judicial temperament and ideology to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Several Democrats have said that Alito's views on issues such as voting rights and abortion could provoke a filibuster unless he allays their concerns about his commitment to civil rights. Alito's confirmation hearings begin Jan. 9 in the Senate Judiciary Committee....
By Fred Barbash | December 11, 2005; 12:06 PM ET | Comments (21)
Alito's classic family odyssey - The Boston Globe
By Michael Kranish :"A White House spokesman, Steve Schmidt, was quoted in The New York Times as having said that Alito's father ''came to America as a young boy searching for opportunity.'In fact, according to immigration and Census records, Alito's father was only about 5 or 6 months old when he arrived in Philadelphia."...
By Fred Barbash | December 11, 2005; 9:37 AM ET | Email a Comment
Alito's sticky thicket - Kenneth W. Starr and Ronald A. Cass
This Op Ed appears in today's Boston Globe: "Justice-to-be Alito's statement wasn't an attack on equality, voting rights, or protecting victims of racial discrimination. It was a simple observation that a liberal court created a doctrine that, however salutary, has significant problems."...
By Fred Barbash | December 11, 2005; 9:18 AM ET | Comments (5)
