Judiciary Committee Sends Controversial Nominee Alito to Full Senate
Feature Story by civilrights.org staff - 1/24/2006
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines (10-8) Tuesday to endorse Samuel Alito, the Bush administration's pick for replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court.
Several lawmakers who are not on the Judiciary Committee, including those who supported the confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts, and numerous civil rights and women's rights groups have opposed Alito's nomination.
"The civil rights community applauds the eight senators who stood up to protect Americans' individual rights and freedoms by voting to oppose the nomination of Samuel Alito to the United States Supreme Court. We are troubled--but, unfortunately, not surprised--by the Senate Judiciary Committee's party line vote," said Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR).
LCCR has opposed Alito, citing his "highly troubling" record on civil rights.
"From the beginning of his career, through his decision making as a jurist on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Judge Alito has routinely favored a reading of statutory and constitutional law that curtails the rights of individuals, limits remedies available to them, and undermines the power of Congress to protect those individuals," LCCR said in a January 5 memo on the nominee's civil rights record.
"Judge Alito's record leads to the conclusion that, if confirmed to the Supreme Court, he would likely shift the balance of the Court toward an extreme that would further curtail civil rights protections," according to a new report from the National Urban League.
Opponents say that Alito's testimony during his Senate hearings did little to allay these concerns.
Both the nominee's silence on critical issues and his attempts to distance himself, yet not denounce, previous hard line positions, reinforce the view that Alito would shift the Court in a direction that would weaken fundamental rights and liberties, opponents assert.
IndependentCourt.org, a coalition of public interest organizations, said that when Alito did give answers, they were "misleading and mischaracterize both his judicial record and his well-documented legal views" on such areas as a woman's right to choose, illegal wiretapping, search and seizure, and "one person, one vote."
Court watchers say because Alito has been named to replace swing vote Sandra Day O'Connor, the stakes are particularly high.
A new report from People For the American Way states that Alito's dissents are more conservative than those of fellow Republican judges 91% of the time; his dissents argue against individual rights 84% of the time; he has sided against 75% of people raising discrimination claims and against immigrants 7 out of 8 times; and he has "seldom sided" with consumers suing big business.
Alito's nomination will next move to the Senate floor for a vote.
"Today, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights - speaking on behalf of those whose rights and freedoms are jeopardized by the prospect of a 'Justice' Alito - has its own clear message: A vote for Alito is a vote to reverse 40 years of civil rights progress. A vote against Alito is a vote in favor of protecting everyone's rights and freedoms,"
LCCR's Henderson said.
