Alito splits with conservatives on first case

MSNBC ^ | 2/2/06 | AP

[Boston Republican]

Alito splits with conservatives on first case Votes to stop Missouri from executing killer contesting lethal injection WASHINGTON - New Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito split with the courtÂ’s conservative wing Wednesday night, refusing to let Missouri execute a death-row inmate contesting lethal injection. Alito, handling his first case, sided with inmate Michael Taylor, who had won a stay from an appeals court earlier in the evening. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas supported lifting the stay, but Alito joined the remaining five members in turning down MissouriÂ’s last-minute request to allow a midnight execution.

[smith288]

THE SKY IS FALLING!!!

[madconserv]

The Supreme Court has blocked two executions in the past week, and has agreed to use one of the cases to clarify how inmates may bring last-minute challenges to the way they will be put to death.

OK now we got it. Alito is just going along with the challenge. I don't see how lethal injection is cruel and... but thats separate.

[jamese777]

"Of course not. They simply read the case differently than Alito did. Each justice has to use his own judgement when analyzing the details of individual cases. In this case, Alito simply read the case differently than Scalia, Roberts, and Thomas. Nothing wrong with coming to differing conclusions based on analysis."

Yes, and that's why Sandra Day O'Conner was sometimes on the side of Scalia, Thomas and Rehnquist and sometimes on the side of Bader-Ginzberg, Breyer, Souter, Kennedy and Stevens.

[Invincibly Ignorant]

I love this guy. Showin' a little "rope a dope" to the dems. They'll just be that much more disappointed.

[blitzgig]

O'Connor kept switching sides all the time because she had no underlying judicial philosophy to guide her. On lots of the big cases, she voted with the liberals because she was swayed by political correctness and what she considered "public opinion."

That's not going to happen with Alito. His judicial record shows a consistent philosophy of upholding the rule of law and not making up things that are not in the Constitution.