1-06-06, 8:55 am
Senate hearings on the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the US Supreme Court are scheduled to begin next week. Critics of President Bush's nomination of Alito say that Alito is an activist judge whose opinions are motivated by right-wing ideology rather than concern for the Constitution and legal precedent. Beyond ideology, however, Alito may have misled the public and the Senate about his record and his ability to deliberate fairly.
According to a new television ad prepared by a coalition of groups that have created the website , Alito may have broken his promises to the Senate Judiciary Committee made during hearings on his confirmation to the position he currently holds on the third US Court of Appeals.
During those hearings, Alito said that he would not rule in cases involving two companies that handled his investments or in cases involving his sister's law firm. The ad points out, however, that court records show Alito's participation in such cases, despite his pledges.
The ad, which will run initially on cable news programs nationally and in the states of key members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asks: 'Shouldn't we be able to trust Supreme Court nominees to keep their word?'
'But it's hard to know,' Aron added, 'how seriously Americans will be able to take his answers, given his questionable and conflicted pattern of answering questions about his own record.'
In December, Alito received heat for his statements in the 1980s as a Reagan administration lawyer emphatically declaring his opposition to court decisions that protect a woman's right to choose. Alito further described a potential legal strategy for chipping away at and reinterpreting those decisions in order to void protections for a woman's right to choose.
Alito now says those candid comments on his views opposing reproductive rights won't affect his deliberations.
Critics point out that it is difficult to believe Alito's most recent comments, given his record of not squaring his statements with his actions. A report released last month by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund notes that 'questions regarding Judge Alito's credibility have led us to question his fitness for the Court under MALDEF's standards for evaluating the integrity and judicial temperament of a judicial nominee.'
Meanwhile, right-wing organizations and religious groups that favor Alito's confirmation seem pleased with his positions on abortion rights, and his recent public comments downplaying his staunch views against reproductive rights have not caused them to waver. In other words, they seem to be assured that, despite his recent statements, Alito will rule the way they want on matters related to abortion.
This situation contrasts sharply with the extreme right wing's failure to support Bush's earlier nomination of Harriet Miers, despite her inappropriate private assurances to a number of right-wing Christian fundamentalist leaders that she would support their views on a host of legal questions.
In its report on Alito's record, the Alliance for Justice stated: 'The same political conservatives who opposed Ms. Miers' nomination as a squandered opportunity immediately embraced the nomination of Judge Alito. Having promoted him for several years in anticipation of a vacancy, they firmly believe, based on his long record, that he will realize their long-deferred hopes of moving the Court and the law dramatically to the right.'
Because of questions about Alito's credibility as well as his hard-right ideological stances, also said that it will deliver approximately one million petitions against Alito's confirmation to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Arlen Specter this week.
According to a press statement by , about 60 major national organizations, including labor unions, family, community, and health-advocacy groups, as well as environmental, civil rights, and public interest organizations, have joined together to help the public learn the truth about Alito's record and urge the Senate Judiciary Committee to fulfill its Constitutional duty to advise and consent rather than just serve as a rubber stamp.
Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said, 'Americans need to understand why so many people are asking whether Alito can be counted on to stand up for us.'
'Americans count on the Supreme Court to protect our rights and freedoms,' said Ralph G. Neas, president of People for the American Way Foundation. 'As we move toward confirmation hearings that will focus public attention on this nomination, Americans deserve the facts about Samuel Alito's record, not just the White House spin.'
--Joel Wendland can be reached at jwendland@politicalaffairs.net.
