Alito Expected to Face Tough Questions
Feature Story by civilrights.org staff - 1/10/2006
Civil rights, privacy rights, and executive power are among the issues expected to be explored by senators Tuesday during hearings on the Supreme Court nomination of Samuel Alito.
Also at issue: the nominee's credibility.
IndependentCourt.org, a coalition of public interest organizations, has run television ads focusing on the fact that as a federal judge, Alito has more than once broken pledges he made to the Senate Judiciary Committee during his first confirmation process, giving several different excuses for his conduct once the broken pledge was revealed.
When nominated to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Alito said that he would not rule in cases involving two companies that handled his investments or in cases involving his sister's law firm. The ad points out, however, that court records show Alito's participation in such cases, despite his pledge to recuse himself.
Opponents say Alito and his supporters have given conflicting and confusing explanations for his failure to disqualify himself from these cases.
When seeking a Reagan administration job promotion in 1985, Alito highlighted his association with the controversial Concerned Alumni of Princeton, a group that opposed efforts to admit more women and minorities into the college. In his answers to the Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire, he wrote: "I have no recollection of being a member."
Although Alito can't seem to remember why he joined the group, Republican senators are floating an explanation. Monday, during his opening statement and before questioning of Alito, Sen. Lindsay Graham, R. S.C., indicated that Alito may have joined the group to protest Princeton's treatment of ROTC during the Vietnam war.
Opponents to Alito's nomination say Alito's shifting explanations and evasive comments fit into a pattern of concerns about credibility, and give no comfort as to how the nominee will respond to important questions he will be called on to answer.
Alito gave his opening statement Monday, following remarks by each member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and introductions by politicians from his home state of New Jersey, Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D. N.J., and Christine Todd Whitman, former Governor of New Jersey and former EPA Administrator.
The Senate Judiciary Committee consists of 18 senators--10 Republicans and 8 Democrats.
Court watchers say because Alito has been named to replace swing vote Sandra Day O'Connor, the stakes are particularly high.
Alito is currently a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. His nomination has been opposed by a number of groups concerned about his record on civil rights and women's rights.
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) released January 5 a memorandum on Judge Samuel Alito's civil rights record, covering the beginning of his career through his decision making as a jurist on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
LCCR Executive Director Wade Henderson said that on issues ranging from voting rights issues to the rights of criminal defendants, Alito has been on the "wrong side." "Equal rights for all Americans is a fundamental principle of our democracy, yet Alito is on record favoring curtailment of those rights," said Henderson.
