Posted on 11/03/2005 9:39:55 AM PST by RWR8189
Judges who have served with Samuel Alito say he's unquestionably a conservative who would push the Supreme Court to the right, likely favoring new abortion restrictions that retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor would not.
Five current or former judges on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals interviewed by The Associated Press described Alito as thoughtful, intelligent and fair. They said he has great respect for precedent-setting decisions and none of them offered that he would be likely to vote to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.
O'Connor, whom Alito was tapped to replace by President Bush, has provided the fifth vote on a closely divided court to limit government power to restrict abortions.
"There's no question he's going to move the Supreme Court to the right because he is conservative," said former Judge Timothy Lewis, an appointee of the first President Bush who typically voted with liberal members when he served on the 3rd Circuit from 1992 to 1999.
"But in tens of thousands of cases that came before us, he faithfully showed a deference and deep respect for precedent," Lewis said. "From private caucus meetings and on the bench, I know he is an intellectually honest man and doesn't have personal predilections to foist upon the American people."
Senior Judge Leonard Garth, a Nixon appointee for whom Alito served as law clerk from 1976-77 before they became colleagues in 1990, said Alito supports tighter abortion restrictions, such as parental and spousal consent, but would stop there.
"Sam is not going to overturn Roe v. Wade," said Garth, a moderate conservative who signed on to a 2000 abortion-rights decision involving a procedure foes call "partial-birth" abortion that Alito criticized as too expansive.
The judges spoke in separate interviews. They disputed assertions by both liberal and conservative interest groups that the former Reagan administration lawyer is a right-wing ideologue in the mold of Justice Antonin Scalia. Supporters and detractors sometimes refer to Alito as "Scalito."
Senior Judge Edward Becker, who has served with Alito for 15 years, called the moniker misleading. Becker described Alito as much more reserved than the caustic and sometimes divisive Scalia, who often seeks to dominate questioning from the bench.
"I found him to be very open-minded," Becker said. "He's very principled, very analytical, never decides more than he has to in a case. He does believe in judicial restraint in the way he writes opinions, with no ideological overtones."
One area in which Alito and Scalia are similar is their broad interpretation of free speech rights.
Scalia, for instance, has disappointed conservatives by voting to uphold flag-burning. Alito has written opinions that outlawed a school anti-harassment policy barring demeaning comments about race, religion or gender as overly broad; and struck down a state law barring companies from buying alcohol ads in college newspapers.
"He's very sympathetic to First Amendment rights," Becker said.
The 3rd Circuit, which handles cases from Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and the Virgin Islands, has emerged in recent years as a foothold for liberal decisions involving some civil liberties and employment discrimination, setting noteworthy precedents involving privacy rights as well as free expression on the Internet.
Alito, 55, has been the lone dissenter on a number of cases, including a 1991 decision striking down a Pennsylvania spousal notification law for abortions. He also has sought greater states' rights, fewer death penalty appeals and limits on employment discrimination suits.
The 14-member court has long been regarded by law professors as more moderate and fact-driven, in contrast to strident ideology found on bitterly divided courts such as the Richmond-based 4th Circuit and San Francisco-based 9th Circuit.
Some of Alito's colleagues say one reason is the modesty and collegiality of Alito.
"The entire court is thrilled with the appointment," said Chief Judge Anthony Scirica, a Reagan appointee. "Whatever quality you think a judge ought to have, whether it's scholarship or an ability to deliberate or fairness or temperance, Sam has each of these to a highest degree."
AP trying to divide the conservatives again.
It isn't going to work.
He will follow the law. Once he is on SCOTUS he will no longer be bound by Roe. Based on his history there is every reason to believe he will find it - as even Ginsburg has - to be ungrounded in the law.
I'm more worried about whether he'll help overturn McConnell vs. FEC (McCain-Feingold upheld).
Maybe so, but there have been a few reports in the last couple of days that are kind of worrisome....that he voted pro-abort in three out of four cases, and then there's that college paper he wrote in favor of repealing sodomy laws.
A lot of people here keep saying none of that matters, that he's a real conservative, and not to worry about it. I hope they're right. Maybe they are.
Roe will fall one way or the other. Science alone is killing it. A ruling that blatantly unconstitutional simply can't survive forever.
Yep. Stare Decises didn't stop abolition of slavery. It shouldn't stop SCOTUS from overturning the law that allows the continued holocaust of the unborn.
If you pierce the implications of the MSM and drill down to the details, you will see that there is nothing to justify apprehension on our part. As an appellate judge he was legally bound to follow SCOTUS precedent - he did not have the authority to overturn those precedents. So to say that he faithfully applied (bad) precedent doesn't mean he supports the original misruling. As far as his college papers go... that was 1971 - he was 21, and is 55 now. If he held a pro-sodomite belief for nearly 35 years there would be more evidence - most importantly, more recent evidence - of it.
WTF was Bush 41 doing when it came time to appointing judges? It appears that he contacted Gloria Steinham, Elenor Clift and Barbara Boxer and asked for their recommendations.
I certainly hope so.....
Unfortunate then. We've lost too many millions because of that terrible ruling.
Many people, including the author of this piece it seems, believe that before Roe, abortion was illegal and that if it is overturned, abortion will be illegal again.
My understanding is that Roe simply made abortion legal nationwide. The point being that some states had legalized abortion before Roe and if Roe is overturned, the decision on abortion would return to the states. Do I have that right?
It is nothing more than scare tactics to suggest that overturning Roe would make abortion illegal.
The bad news: Neither Alito nor Roberts would be likely to overturn Roe v Wade imminently. There are only four pro-lifers on the bench, and immediately overturning precedents as soon as you get a fifth conservative would destroy the authority of the Supreme Court.
The good news: The economy is still holding back its strength. The chances of the economic cycle maturing and expiring before '08 are closed to nil. Productivity in the last three years exploded at its greatest rate since just after World War 2. There will be an economic surge, and conservativism will surge. Screw the current polls; the '08 cycle looks excellent for a Republican president, and given the latest spat within the party, we may actually pick a stronger conservative than Bush. I cannot imagine Stevens and Ginsburg holding out until '12, in the face of further uncertainty of who will hold the White House even then, and given demographic trends, the Democrats taking the Senate seems very unlikely for the next generation.
CONCLUSION: It may take several years, but we will get 6 or even 7 conservatives on the court. Only then will Roe v Wade be overturned. When it goes, even Kennedy (if he is still around) may join the majority for the sake of maintaining the court's authority.
RECOMMENDATION: Conservatives should not yet aim directly at Roe v. Wade. Roberts' conditions for overturning stare decisis may carry the day for several more years. In the meantime, conservatives need to make sure that overturning Roe fulfills those conditions. We have to find cases that highlight the inconsistencies behind Roe. The liberals have always dominated "test cases," but if the GOP holds onto the presidency 7 more years, the federal court system will lurch abruptly to the right, giving us the power to bubble up ideal test cases.
HA!
Yes you have it right. Several states legalized abortion years before Roe v. Wade.
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