Posted on 11/01/2005 12:53:51 PM PST by SmithL
New Haven -- As a law student 31 years ago, Samuel A. Alito cautioned against trying to glean justices' personal opinions from their decisions.
Now that the 1975 Yale Law School graduate is President Bush's nominee to the Supreme Court, reporters, congressional aides and interest groups are trying to do just that: sifting through Alito's writings from 15 years on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia in preparation for what's expected to be a contentious confirmation fight.
Alito would replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a moderate voice who has been a swing vote on many issues considered by the court. The 55-year-old Alito could be in a position to cast the deciding votes in a range of cases from affirmative action to abortion, campaign finance to the death penalty if he is confirmed by the Senate.
In a bylined article for the Yale Law Journal, Alito analyzed notes and documents from the so-called "released time" cases, two landmark Supreme Court decisions regarding religious education in public schools.
He did not take a stance on religion in his 1974 article, but noted that justices made compromises behind closed doors that made it difficult for appellate courts and commentators to determine what they were thinking.
"The reader should be very hesitant about attempting to discern the justices' motivations from the written opinions," Alito wrote.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I understand that Roberts replaced Reinquist (or, rather, the correctly spelled name...) on an official level, and Alito is officially replacing SDO (assuming he is confirmed).
Am I mistaken in my reading of Roberts as more like SDO, and Alito more like Reinquist (or a tad more conservative perhaps)?
In my opinion, Roberts is more like Rehnquist and Alito would be more like Thomas.
I just read the other day that Alito has been nicknamed Scalito.. or Scalia lite.
Very conservative.
I don't believe Roberts is anywhere close to SDO.
I think that's accurate. Alito really isn't very much like Scalia, despite the media's best efforts.
#####Am I mistaken in my reading of Roberts as more like SDO, and Alito more like Reinquist (or a tad more conservative perhaps)?#####
Heaven help us if Roberts is like O'Connor. He'll be a lousy judge on most issues if he is. O'Connor has no sense of the role of a judge. She decides cases based on her personal policy preferences rather than on the Constitution. The only reason she's a little less awful than Ginzburg, Stevens, Souter, and Breyer is that she holds conservative positions on a few things, namely private property issues, while the four hardcore leftists don't.
I'm hopeful that Roberts will be a solid constitutionalist judge, not a wavering unconstitutionalist like O'Connor.
I'm curious if he is Skull and Bones......anyone know?
Maybe you should check with alex jones. He seems to put alot of credence in that nonsense.
I think the doors shouldn't be closed. That way everyone can know exactly where the compromises were, and who made them.
That's my assessment as well.
I think that is just at Yale.
Judge Alito did his undergrad work at Priceton not Yale.
True, but he did his law school at Yale. If he joined S&B during that time,,,,then does he have obligations to other fraternity members is the question.
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