Posted on 11/02/2005 9:09:16 AM PST by jamese777
Nominee Has Some Unexpected Supporters Liberals who have worked with Samuel A. Alito Jr. say he is fair, not a rigid ideologue. By David G. Savage and Henry Weinstein Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
November 2, 2005
WASHINGTON — Samuel A. Alito Jr. was quickly branded a hard-core conservative after President Bush announced his nomination, but a surprising number of liberal-leaning judges and ex-clerks say they support his elevation to the Supreme Court.
Those who have worked alongside him say he was neither an ideologue nor a judge with an agenda, conservative or otherwise. They caution against attaching a label to Alito.
Kate Pringle, a New York lawyer who worked last year on Sen. John F. Kerry's presidential campaign, describes herself as a left-leaning Democrat and a big fan of Alito's.
She worked for him as a law clerk in 1994, and said she was troubled by the initial reaction to his nomination. "He was not, in my personal experience, an ideologue. He pays attention to the facts of cases and applies the law in a careful way. He is conservative in that sense; his opinions don't demonstrate an ideological slant," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Do you think some liberals are saying they support Alito in the hopes that they can get some rabid conservatives riled up against him, like they did with Miers?
---"He was not, in my personal experience, an ideologue. He pays attention to the facts of cases and applies the law in a careful way. He is conservative in that sense; his opinions don't demonstrate an ideological slant," she said.----
This is what conservatives have been saying they wanted for decades.
How that it's ocme out that alito did his job, followed precedents, and didn't legislate from the bench in some abortion cases, some people here aren't happy. They want an activist when it comes to ruling the way they want.
---Do you think some liberals are saying they support Alito in the hopes that they can get some rabid conservatives riled up against him---
No, but I think the press will play those things up, like they will do for the abortion cases, in order to push emotional buttons.
I have also made this observation. This is a dream nominee for those who support strict reading of the constitution. Sometimes that reading is going to go against your personal beliefs, yet it is a correct ruling. That is what I personally want in a justice, and if I'm not always happy with the result, then that is my problem.
Yep, you are all ready seeing them go back to the old playbook. Talk up the nominee so the Right goes into mental meltdown mode. They know they cannot defeat him on their side.
Y'all can stop worriting. Alito will be confirmed.
Let 'em do it. This time it will play right into our hands. What we want is what we'll get, this time.
If nothing else, Judge Alito's nomination will separate those Freepers who had genuinely principled objections to Harriet Miers from those who used Miers to flay George Bush over their other issues.
then there are others who "trusted bush" on miers, despite her pro-choice speech, and are against alito because they infer a pro-abortion stance because he did exactly what he was supposed to do by following existing precedents.
That's all I ask for. He sounds perfect.
Eggs-Actely! That is the thing I find so admirable about Alito. That the man does not legislate from the bench ON ANYTHING (or for either side) but rather follows the strict letter of the law as well as the structure of the constitution. President Bush said he wanted someone who would not legislate from the bench, and he correctly picked Samuel Alito jr. for the job.
Perhaps.
I also think some liberals actually support him because they too appreciate a judge acting like an umpire and not trying to cheat for a particular team.
Yep. Too bad for them we have so many Legal Eagle FReeper that can explain these things to us Legally illiterate FReeper. I am sure there will be thinks we question that Judge Alito took that are going to make people scratch their heads. I mean, it is too much to hope that in all his hundreds of decisions Alito ruled exactly the way we want EVERY time.
What you said.
Are you talking about the NJ partial-birth abortion ban? That is a ridiculous reason to oppose Alito. A Supreme Court ruling just a few months earlier made it abundantly clear that there was no other way for the Circuit Court to rule.
This is a dream nominee for those who support strict reading of the constitution. Sometimes that reading is going to go against your personal beliefs, yet it is a correct ruling.<<<<< EXACTLY!!!
"He was not, in my personal experience, an ideologue. He pays attention to the facts of cases and applies the law in a careful way. He is conservative in that sense; ...
That as opposed to:
He "is", in my personal experience, an ideologue. He pays "no" attention to the facts of cases and applies the law in a "careless" way. He is "liberal" in that sense; ...
that's at least one of the cases.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1514072/posts
There's another thread from a couple of days ago too-
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1514072/posts
amazing how some will leap to conclusions out of sheer ignorance- and be proud of it.
Sad to say, you are correct.
But then some say that Roe v. Wade was not just bad in a moral sense but it was an incorrect application of the law. If so then Alito is our man and he will help to overturn it. If not then I suspect the libs are correct and he will stand by the precedent. I don't know Roe v. Wade well enough to comment but I will always go with the man/woman who is just willing to read the law and tell us what it says and then vote up or down independent of their own personal beliefs. That is the best we can hope for. It is good enough for me. Everything I read about Alito tells me that is the way he will conduct himself on the Supreme Court. I hope so.
On the lower courts, he is bound by precedents of higher courts, so he has to rule that way. Once on the supreme court, if he shares the same belief of stare decisis as thomas, he would realize it's in his power to review any law on its own merits.
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