The Senate, on a vote of 58 to 42, recently confirmed Samuel Alito as the 110th Associate Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court following contentious debate in both the Judiciary Committee and on the Senate floor.
The vote went mainly along party lines, with four Democrats siding with Alito, and one Republican opting against his confirmation. A final filibuster attempt garnered only 22 votes.
Prior to his nomination by President Bush, Alito, a Catholic conservative, served the previous 15 years on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.
Alito succeeds retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman ever seated on the high court, and who turned out to be a swing vote on several key issues, including abortion.
Alito’s confirmation ended a seven-month drama that began when O’Connor announced her intentions to retire, setting the stage for the first change on the court in a dozen years. The President originally had tapped another conservative federal appellate judge, John Roberts from the District of Columbia, to succeed O’Connor. However, Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist died shortly thereafter, prompting the President to make Roberts chief justice. Following Roberts’ confirmation, the President nominated White House Counsel Harriet Miers, who had no previous experience on the bench, to replace O’Connor. However, Miers withdrew her nomination after coming under fire from a number of conservatives, who questioned her credentials, and whether she was conservative enough to succeed O’Connor.
The President, in a statement following Alito’s confirmation, said, “Sam Alito is a brilliant and fair-minded judge who strictly interprets the Constitution and laws, and does not legislate from the bench.”
Following his ceremonial swearing-in ceremony, Alito thanked those who supported his nomination and offered him encouragement.
“So many people have written me letters; so many people from all walks of life have stopped me on the street to tell me that they were praying for me and for members of my family. And the prayers of so many diverse people around the country have been a really palpable and a powerful force. And I’m very grateful to all of them.
I don’t think that anyone can become a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States without feeling a tremendous weight of responsibility and a tremendous sense of humility. The many letters that I’ve received have reminded me how much the people of the United States revere our Constitution and our form of government, and how much they look to the Supreme Court of the United States to protect our form of government and our freedoms. That is an awesome responsibility. I pledge that I will do everything in my power to live up to the trust that has been placed in me,” Alito said.
Conservatives hailed Alito’s confirmation.
Liberty Counsel President and General Counsel, Mathew Staver, stated, “We are thrilled that Justice Samuel Alito is now a permanent member of the United States Supreme Court. We applaud President Bush for keeping his campaign promise to appoint justices who respect the Constitution and who will interpret the law, not legislate from the bench. Justice Alito is such a justice. Justice Alito respects the rule of law.
The Supreme Court is finally headed in the right direction. Now we believe that the Supreme, Court can lead by example and once again regain the respect that is due our Third Branch of government. When the high court issues decisions based purely on ideology, using international law or subjective sociological perceptions, it loses the respect of lower court judges, and most importantly, it loses the respect of the American people.”
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins called Alito’s confirmation a “turning point” for our nation.
“The hope resides within the American people, whose weariness over the court’s embrace of judicial activism rallied voters across the country in pursuit of a new course, a course true to our founders’ intent. Justice Alito is a reflection of that intent.
We are encouraged by his deep respect for the rule of law and the limited role a justice plays when interpreting that law. We do not suggest an understanding of how Justice Alito will rule on particular matters before the court, but we remain confident in the judicial philosophy he has aspired toward,” Perkins said.
Likewise, Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, called Alito’s confirmation a “giant step toward restoring the constitutional balance of powers” envisioned by our founding fathers.
“Tens of millions of Americans, including myself, have been extremely anguished about the increasingly, some would say unconstitutionally, powerful role of the Supreme Court over the last four decades. On many occasions, members of the Supreme Court felt no compunction about striking down laws–passed by the people’s elected representatives–that offended their personal sense of right and wrong, as opposed to interpreting the Constitution.
Justices Roberts and Alito combine strongly held views of judicial restraint with skills and abilities that make them two of the most gifted Supreme Court justices who have ever been confirmed by the Senate,” Land said.
David Bereit, executive director of American Life League, expressed hope that Alito’s confirmation will lead to a greater protection of all human life, “including innocent children at risk of losing their lives to abortion.” “Justice Alito’s confirmation to the nation’s highest court offers pro-life Americans reason for hope and optimism about the future. His record suggests that he will help to ensure justice for all Americans–born and pre-born,” Bereit said.
Many opposed to the Alito nomination cited a memo he wrote in 1985 as a lawyer in the Justice Department, in which he said there was no constitutional right to an abortion. At his confirmation hearings, however, Alito told senators he would approach the issue with an open mind.
The American Civil Liberties Union, in a statement, said, “Judge Alito’s record regarding civil rights, privacy and a woman’s right to choose, places him well outside the mainstream and makes him a threat to the rights and liberties of all Americans.”
Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said that the President, for a second time, “capitulated to his far-right supporters by pushing a nominee who could vote to dismantle or overturn Roe v. Wade,” the Supreme Court’s 1973 landmark decision that legalized abortion.
“This persistent assault on our freedoms will not go unnoticed by an American public that overwhelmingly supports a woman’s right to privacy as guaranteed by Roe,” Keenan added.
The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice called the Alito nomination a “direct threat to women’s health and safety.”
The RCRC, in a statement, said, “Samuel Alito’s record and testimony leave no doubt that the court will shift to the extreme right, threatening our hard-won rights and liberties for generations to come.”
Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, expressed “deep regret” over Alito’s confirmation. “We firmly believe that Sam Alito meant what he said in 1985 about his staunch belief that the Warren Court got it wrong on church-state matters, and that the Constitution does not provide protection for reproductive rights. Sadly, the Senate has now given Alito the opportunity to attack longstanding federal court precedent protecting individual freedom,” Lynn said.
However, Ira Lupu, a professor at George Washington University Law School, and an expert on constitutional issues involving church and state, noted in an interview with UNI that even if the newly comprised Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade, the issue would go back to the 50 states.
“Some states would have very progressive abortion-favoring legislation and some would be much more restrictive, and it would be a very interesting political battle to watch.
I have no doubt that if Sam Alito had been on the Supreme Court in 1973, that he would have dissented in Roe against Wade. But some 30-years later, Roe and Wade has been reaffirmed. It’s not at all clear to me what John Roberts or Sam Alito will do with the question of precedential value of Roe against Wade.
I could imagine, however, that there would be cases about the Federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. It’s going to come to the Supreme Court, perhaps next term. Perhaps they’ll side with the government in favor of regulation of late-term abortion methods. And I could imagine a series of other decisions that involve sort of cutting back a little bit on abortion rights. And then, if you had enough of those in a sequence, perhaps the question of overruling Roe and Wade would be on the table. But I think that’s a long way off,” Lupu said.
The Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 has never been implemented because of court challenges. Three federal appellate courts, including two of them recently, found the statute to be unconstitutional on the grounds that it fails to make an exception for the health of the mother.
Lupu also surmises that there will be plenty of religious rights cases for the two new justices to deal with in the coming years.
“I can certainly imagine there being cases arising out of the Faith-Based Initiative having to do with the government financing of either schools or social services with some religious content. That’s a place where Justice O’Connor was a very important swing vote and was willing to be somewhat supportive of those kind of enterprises, but in a rather careful and somewhat restrictive way.
A lot of people, me included, expect that Justice Alito is likely to be somewhat friendlier to the government when cases of that sort come to the Supreme Court. But those are down the road a few years,” Lupu concluded.
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