Confirm Alito to the court

Newark Star Ledger ^ | 1/17/06 | Newark Star Ledger

[NJRighty]

Confirm Alito to the court

The Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito Jr. have been a remarkable tutorial -- not in the law but in just how low partisan politics have sunk.

Democrats have painted Alito as someone ready to turn back the clock 50 years on civil, reproductive and workers' rights. They have attempted to draw a public portrait of Alito, sometimes relying on half- truths, that those who know him best barely recognize. Republicans responded to this onslaught with a slew of softball questions designed not to elicit information but to present the nominee in the best possible light.

Neither side has served the public particularly well.

For their part, Senate Judiciary Committee members interjected a level of senatorial logorrhea that was stunning, droning on and on about matters that had nothing to do with Alito's fitness to serve on the nation's highest court.

Despite the spectacle of the hearings, we are convinced Alito, a New Jerseyan who sits on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, is eminently qualified to serve as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and should be confirmed by the committee and ultimately by the full Senate, and, yes, with the support of New Jersey's two Democratic senators.

Our support is not an uncritical ode to homegrown talent. It is based, in part, on the respect and praise Alito has garnered from those who have worked with him throughout his distinguished legal and judicial career. Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, many of whom, perhaps, philosophically disagree with Alito, have consistently maintained he is well-suited for the court.

We think they make a compelling case.

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[NJRighty]

Not bad, considering how far to the left the Star Ledger's editorial board is.