Posted on 01/17/2006 1:06:18 PM PST by SmithL
SUPREME Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. was careful to avoid being too revealing at his Senate confirmation hearings, but he did answer the overriding question.
He is the wrong choice to succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the nation's highest court.
In some ways, Alito's taciturn approach to questions about the great constitutional issues of our time was similar to that of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. But the distinction between the history of the two judges -- and the role of the justice they were nominated to replace -- are important.
Of the two, Alito had far more explaining to do about his past, and his answers fell short of satisfying concerns about his record of advocating repeal of Roe vs. Wade, highlighting his membership in a Princeton alumni group with retrograde views of women and minorities and all too frequently siding with government and businesses against individuals seeking redress.
One of the focal points in the Alito hearings was the balance of power between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. That issue was not only timely because of the Bush administration's attempts to usurp the authority of Congress, but also because of Alito's past support for the concept of a "unitary executive" with extensive powers. In fact, as a Justice Department lawyer in the Reagan administration, Alito laid out a strategy for presidents to "increase the power of the executive to shape the law" by putting caveats with their signature on legislation. President Bush has been doing just that -- using "signing statements" more than 100 times to essentially reserve his right to ignore a law he might find unduly constraining. For example, in recently signing the torture ban, Bush included language that could allow him to override it for national security purposes.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
It is. I live here in the Bay Area and their op-ed page is abysmal. Every letter to the editor sounds like it was written by a young communist in training. The letter to the editor this morning was a Code Pink operative ripping Nancy Pelosi over the Iraq war! I thought that was rich! Even she isn't left enough for them! As Nelson from the Simpsons says, "Ha!Ha!"
a gasbagism from the chron.
Congressman Billybob
Latest column: "On Judge Alito, the San Francisco Chronicle is Unfit to be a Newspaper"
And when one of the panels was testifying, Professor Liu suggested that Judge Alito's memo on Tennessee v Garner was proof enough that Mr. Alito should be questioned. Ironically, the memo mirrored somewhat Justice O'Connor's opinion in the case, the quintessential gun case.
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