Posted on 01/27/2006 1:29:36 PM PST by areafiftyone
Friday, January 27, 2006 - 1:19:30 PMBREAKING: Pryor will vote 'no' on Alito
U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor will vote against the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Pryor said he was satisfied that Alito was qualified and possessed the proper judicial temperament. But there’s a third criterion, he said. “Can he be fair and impartial if he’s on the United States Supreme Court? And would he be an activist, would he legislate from the bench, would he come with an agenda? I spent a lot of time looking at that. I must say when it comes to the question of whether Samuel Alito will be fair and impartial, I have doubts, I have reservations.” So he said, while it was a close call, he would vote no.
He added, without prompting, that he did not support a filibuster against Alito because “one is not warranted.” As a member of the bipartisan Gang of 14 that earlier had preserved filibuster as a potential option in case of “extraordinary circumstances,” he said that clearly wasn't the case with Alito.
Pressed by reporters for specific objections, Pryor spoke of one area "troubling" to him. "He tends to favor the expansion of presidential power and I believe in the Constitution's checks and balances. I'm not saying he doesn't either. But I'm concerned that over time he might chip away at those checks and balances and allow the exeuctive power to expand until it's supreme over the other branches."
Pryor said Alito will be confirmed Tuesday. He said he hopes he can apologize to Alito in five years for being wrong about his vote.
Pryor noted he'd voted for more than 90 percent of the president's judicial nominations, including Chief Justice John Roberts. In Roberts' case, Pryor said, "At the end of that process I just didn't have any doubts about his ability to be fair and impartial."
Reactions: Family Council says it's a mystery. Republican Party says it's "disappointing" to have Pryor and Lincoln "cater to Ted Kennedy."
Thank you. This vote ahould be used against him.
I hope so! Arkansas is a red state. I've read that 57% favor the confirmation of Alito. He proved by this vote that he is more interested in pleasing the leftist leaders of the Dem Party than representing his constituents.
There is no excuse for his vote or Lincoln's, after that parade of people from across the spectrum who know Judge Alito, and have worked with him, and who addressed the concerns that each of them mentioned as being the reason they "could not" vote to confirm him.
You wrote that two years ago, and yet the GOP isn't even fielding a challenger against Pryor -- a first term Senator running completely unopposed for reelection.
Not only did the RNC not run ads against Pryor, they didn't even bother to field a candidate against him. He's running completely unopposed for reelection this year -- they didn't even find a placeholder for the ballot.
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