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ALITO CONFIRMEDWell done, Senate. Congratulations, President Bush and JUSTICE Alito! Apparently CJ Roberts swore him in...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid admitted on Friday he and fellow Democrats lack the votes to block President George W. Bush's nomination of conservative appeals judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Judge Samuel Alito Jr., whose entire history suggests that he holds extreme views about the expansive powers of the presidency and the limited role of Congress, will almost certainly be a Supreme Court justice soon. His elevation will come courtesy of a president whose grandiose vision of his own powers threatens to undermine the nation's basic philosophy of government — and a Senate that seems eager to cooperate by rolling over and playing dead. It is hard to imagine a moment when it would be more appropriate for senators to fight for a principle. Even a losing battle would draw...

U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) on Thursday said he plans to vote against Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito because the judge is "itching to overturn Roe v. Wade." Kennedy explained his position on Alito's confirmation, which is expected sometime next week, during a speech to the liberal Center for American Progress. The group, founded by John Podesta, who served as the chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, opposes Alito's confirmation because it fears Alito would cause "a profound shift in the ideological balance of the Court." Kennedy summed up liberal talking points against Alito, touching on several aspects of...

Re: Democrats Delay Alito[Ed Whelan  01/17 12:44 PM] Does this reason (from today's Washington Post article) that Democrats state for delaying Alito's confirmation make any political sense: Democrats, anticipating that Alito ultimately will be confirmed, are trying to deny the White House that victory as long as possible, particularly in the days before the State of the Union address President Bush is to deliver Jan. 31. Although Senate rules do not enable them to defer the confirmation vote until after the speech, Democratic senators would like to reduce the victory period immediately before the speech, one of the broadest public...

5th & Final Day of Hearings This morning, the Senate Judiciary Cmte. convenes for a final session in the nomination hearings of Judge Samuel Alito. Outside witnesses who did not testify at yes- terday's hearings are given an opportunity to offer their opinions on the nominee. The Cmte. meets again to vote, either to approve or reject, on Tues., Jan. 17 FRI., 9:00AM ET, C-SPAN Live LinksC-spanJudiciary LIVE LINKFEDNETCapitolHearings.org

Day 4: Hearing Resumes This morning, Senators will question Judge Alito during a third round. They will then go into a closed session, to review the FBI background investigation on the Supreme Court nominee. Outside witnesses may be called to testify this afternoon, as well as the American Bar Association, to discuss its recommendations. THURS., 9:00AM ET, C-SPAN Live LinksC-spanJudiciary LIVE LINKFEDNETCapitolHearings.org

Day 3: Questioning Continues This morning, Round 1 concludes with Senators on the Judiciary Cmte. who did not question nominee Alito yesterday. During Round 2, questioning is limited to 20 minutes for each of the eight- een senators. Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) leads off, followed by the others, alternating by party in order of seniority. WEDS., 9:30AM ET, C-SPAN Live LinksC-spanJudiciary LIVE LINKFEDNETCapitolHearings.org

When it comes to education, in fact, Alito is no conservative. Instead, he's a raging judicial activist. Take his dissent in C.H. v. Oliva, in which a New Jersey school removed a child's poster of Jesus from a Thanksgiving display. Although the school returned the poster to the display the very next day, Alito said courts should entertain a lawsuit by the child's parents. "Public school authorities may not discriminate against student speech based on its religious content," Alito wrote. "Recognition of this important principle would not interfere with the operation of the public schools." We disagree. Over the last...

WASHINGTON — With abortion and executive privilege to be two huge issues facing Samuel Alito during his confirmation hearing this week, the Supreme Court nominee said Monday that a good judge always keeps an open mind and that no person is above the law. "A judge can't have any agenda, a judge can't have any preferred outcome in any particular case, and a judge certainly doesn't have a client ... the judge's sole obligation is to the rule of law," Alito said. The almost 11 minutes of remarks were made without notes as the nominee tried to present his case...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chance of a filibuster to halt the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel Alito rose on news he once opposed 1960s Supreme Court rulings on reapportionment based on the principle of equal voting rights, a top Democrat on the Senate judiciary panel said on Sunday. Sen. Joseph Biden, a Democrat from Delaware, told Fox News Sunday that a decision by Democrats to filibuster would depend largely on Alito's answers during judiciary committee questioning scheduled for January. Prior to the Warren court's decisions, some state legislators were elected on a geographical basis, giving thinly populated rural areas...

WANTED SAMUEL "MACHINE GUN SAMMY" ALITO is WANTED for: -Voting to strike down the 1986 federal machine gun ban. In the 1996 case U.S. v. Rybar, Judge Alito was the lone dissenter in the decision upholding the conviction of a gun dealer who sold illegal machine guns at a Pennsylvania gun show. Possession of an unusual and extremely restrictive view of Congressional regulatory power. Alito (also called "Scalito" by his associates because of his similarity to conservative Judge Antonin Scalia) is known to possess views that could imperil virtually every federal law that regulates firearms, ammunitions, and explosives. Known consortion...

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2005 11:02 a.m. EST Sen. Reid: Alito Fails to Diversify Court Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday said he has "significant concerns" about Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, calling President Bush's latest choice one of the most conservative judges in the United States. "A picture of Sam Alito is emerging that may explain why the extreme right-wing is popping champagne corks," Reid, D-Nev., said in a Senate speech, referring to a 20-year-old document in which Alito asserted "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion." Abortion rights activists are concerned that Alito and recently...

A coalition of liberal groups is preparing a multimillion-dollar television advertising campaign against the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. that seeks to move the debate over his selection beyond abortion rights and focus instead on subjects like police searches and employment discrimination, several leaders of the coalition said. The possibility that Judge Alito could vote to narrow abortion rights has dominated discussion among both supporters and opponents of his nomination. But Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice and one of the leaders of the coalition, said a poll commissioned by her organization showed the...

...developing

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court's middle ground is disappearing. If Samuel Alito is confirmed, he could almost immediately begin to erase the court's balanced rulings on contentious social issues like abortion, religion and capital punishment. With pragmatic Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as its pendulum, the court has staked out moderate positions, often in line with public opinion but not necessarily clear-cut. "We've been idling many years with the court being noncommittal," said Ann Althouse, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin. That is likely to end with Alito, who is expected to bring a more reliably conservative approach to...

It's sad enough to watch a presidency unravel with unethical conduct, pride and incompetence. It's worse to have the president try to unravel constitutional precedents, respect for the U.S. Supreme Court and national unity to regain his political standing. Mired in crisis, President Bush has chosen a deeply divisive nominee for the court, Judge Samuel Alito of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Alito is a conservative beloved by the religious right, which calls him "Scalito" for his supposed adherence to the views of Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Bush has again shown that, in contradiction of his...

Take that, Chuck Schumer. President Bush yesterday nominated Judge Samuel Alito of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Newark to the Supreme Court......handing Senate Democrats a confirmation fight of a sort they probably never counted on — and more than likely won't win. Alito, to put it mildly, is no lightweight. He's been on the federal bench for 15 years — in the process, amassing more judicial experience than any nominee in more than 70 years. Named to the federal bench by the first President Bush, he has compiled an unambiguous record of respect both for the law...

This is it. Do you understand? We're ready for this debate. We can win this debate. We're up against a bunch of people that don't have any ideas. We're up against a bunch of people that can't be honest about who they are, but they care so much about this court they have no choice but than to be honest about who they are.

Focus on the Family Action founder and chairman James C. Dobson, Ph.D., issued the following statement today about the nomination of Circuit Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court: "We are extremely pleased by President Bush's selection of Judge Samuel Alito, who has earned the respect of colleagues in both parties for his legal acumen and courtroom demeanor. As a federal judge for the last 15 years, Judge Alito has demonstrated that he understands the role of the judiciary is to interpret existing law in light of the Constitution, not make new law in service to a personal political...