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Samuel Alito Jr. wrote a memo in 1985 arguing there is no constitutional right to abortion, and pro-choice groups are alarmed by that document. They say it proves he's a right-wing extremist with a "long history of hostility to reproductive freedom," in the words of the National Abortion Federation.Maybe Alito is secretly plotting to make pregnancy mandatory for all fertile females, as the NAF sugests. But for those of us who are inclined to be charitable, there's another possible explanation for why he said the Constitution doesn't protection abortion rights: because it doesn't.It's true the Supreme Court has ruled it...

Ted Kennedy threw a tantrum yesterday. In the middle of the second day of the Judiciary Committee’s questioning of Judge Samuel Alito, Kennedy demanded the committee go into an executive session to vote on subpoenaing the private papers of William Rusher, a founding member of the Concerned Alumni of Princeton (CAP), and then threatened to disrupt the committee proceedings by repeating the request over and over until it was recognized.Chairman Arlen Specter, clearly surprised and annoyed by Kennedy’s antics, put the Senior Senator from Massachusetts in his place: “Well, Senator Kennedy, I’m not concerned about your threats to have votes...

A lot of what goes on in politics today has its roots way back to high school and college. In fact, much of the liberal RAGE against conservatives can be traced back to the fact that many of these liberals were/are a bunch of disfunctional, socially awkward LOSERS. And if said liberals were in their teens or early twenties back in the late 60s or early 70s, such as DUmmie mopaul, then they were probably brain fried hippies who were incredibly RESENTFUL of well-adjusted successful types like Samuel Alito. Their rage at being life's losers has not diminished over...

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Senate confirmation hearings of Judge Samuel Alito. Glad to have you with us today. The Senate Judiciary Committee is just about ready to get this one underway. Lots of bad blood coming into this one. The Republicans are fresh off a disappointment as Tom DeLay has just stepped down as House Majority Leader, and then came the tragic news that Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee would not leave the GOP. As for the Democrats, they are still stinging from losses in the last two presidential elections and the defeat of Sen. Tom Daschle. That...

The President and the First Lady spent the weekend at the White House attending St John's Church as is their normal practice on Sunday The President and Judge Samuel Alito addressed the media in the Rose Garden Monday after a breakfast meeting in the Private Dining Room. Prior to breakfast he spoke with Judge Alito in the Oval Office Later in the morning the President discusses progress and Celebrates the 4th Anniversary of No Child Left Behind by visiting North Glen Elementary School Glen Burnie, Maryland the first lady accompanied the President. Today Vice President Dick Cheney was taken to...

With the battle over the nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court set to take center stage on Monday, the American people have undoubtedly become familiar in past weeks with his critics -- along with their criticisms, attacks and mischaracterizations. If the best predictor of future behavior is past performance, then it is reasonable to expect that a host of rather predictable, knee-jerk criticisms -- which have already been refuted with fact -- will be leveled against this fine nominee in a misguided effort to discredit his qualifications. As a preview of the coming debate, here...

The New York Times today gives credit where credit is due. Following yesterday’s disclosure by an aide to Sen. John Cornyn (R.-Tex.) about an op-ed written by Stephen Dujack that compared farm animals to Holocaust victims, Democrats pulled Dujack as a witness for Samuel Alito's confirmation hearings. Dujack was scheduled to testify against Alito for his association with Concerned Alumni of Princeton. Here's an excerpt from the Times' article: “Also on Friday, Democrats canceled one of their witnesses, Stephen R. Dujack, a journalist who has criticized a conservative Princeton alumni group to which Judge Alito once belonged. The cancellation came...

E-mail Author Author Archive Send to a Friend Version January 06, 2006, 1:02 p.m. Against Complacency While Republicans are worried about Democratic attempts to delay a vote on Samuel AlitoÂ’s nomination to the Supreme Court, they expect the hearings that start next week to end in his confirmation sooner or later. They have good reason for confidence, but none for complacency. AlitoÂ’s opponents are hoping that the multiplicity of their charges against him will make up for the weakness of each one. They will fault him for following Sandra Day OÂ’ConnorÂ’s lead on federalism. Then they will fault him...

Sen. Rick Santorum (news, bio, voting record) and Focus on the Family founder James Dobson will headline a rally Sunday for conservatives in Philadelphia one day before the start of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. The Family Research Council, which is backing the event dubbed "Justice Sunday III," said on its Web site that organizers were defending religious liberty and "raising the alarm over liberal secularists' attempts to expel prayer and people of faith from the public square."

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito has received a "well qualified" rating from the American Bar Association. The ABA Wednesday said its 15-member Standing committee voted unanimously, with one recusal, to give Alito the group's highest rating. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is set to convene hearings on Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court Tuesday. President George Bush selected Alito to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who said in July she wished to retire. Abortion rights activists, environmental rights supporters and minority groups have expressed concern about Alito's nomination based on his previous writing. Democratic...

E-mail Author Author Archive Send to a Friend Version January 03, 2006, 2:52 p.m. Questioning Alito Here is a coincidence which we would term providential, except that one doesn’t use that language. At least, if one does use it, it is shrouded in mystery. There is a great deal of swirl in the upcoming examination of Judge Samuel Alito, and some of it does a pretty complete circle. In 1985, Judge Alito wrote to President Ronald Reagan’s Attorney General, Edwin Meese, applying for a job. Quick ideological self-identification was in order, and Alito wrote, “The greatest influence on my...

Op-Ed Contributor and former Solicitor General at the time JUDGE Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s opponents have seized upon two memorandums he wrote when he was a junior lawyer in the office of the solicitor general: one on the Thornburgh case, which dealt with Roe v. Wade, and the other on Mitchell v. Forsyth, which addressed the attorney general's personal liability for wiretaps found to violate the Constitution. Determined to fit the man to the Scalito caricature with which they hope to defeat his nomination to the Supreme Court, Judge Alito's detractors ignore the context and the content of both documents....

WASHINGTON — With the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito less than a week away, his critics are making every effort to whip up opposition to Alito's joining the court. But ever since the defeat of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork a little more than 18 years ago, conservative activists have vowed not to let such critics go unanswered. The Senate Judiciary Committee will begin the confirmation hearing process for Alito, an appeals court judge. Believing that most Americans are now past the diversion of the holidays, several interest groups for and against Alito are now picking up...

January 2, 2006 Alito Supporters Portray Nominee as Less Polished By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK WASHINGTON, Jan. 1 - As Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. enters his final week of dress rehearsals for his Supreme Court confirmation hearings, participants say his performance has already made one thing clear: he will never be as polished and camera-ready as Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. was at his own hearings a few months ago. "He is not going to be the well-manicured nominee," said one participant in the rehearsals, known as murder boards, at which Republican lawyers have played the roles of interrogating...

WASHINGTON - Almost 300 additional documents from Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's time in the Justice Department were released Wednesday, two weeks before his confirmation hearings begin. Many of the latest documents released by the National Archives simply indicate that Alito was copied in on internal Justice Department memos, or are photocopies of decisions that were made by federal judges while Alito was working for the department during the Reagan administration. The Archives said it found the documents in the files of former Justice Department officials while processing Freedom of Information Act requests. Alito's confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary...

Hundreds of new memos and legal briefs written by Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. were released yesterday by the National Archives, with Democrats immediately pointing to documents they say show that he supports domestic spying on American citizens. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat and his party's ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, called the nominee an "activist" judge who, if confirmed, would chip away at civil liberties of Americans. "These new documents ... deepen the impression of activism that colors Judge Alito's career," Mr. Leahy said. They "raise further questions about Judge Alito's views on, and commitment...

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito wrote in a June 1985 memo that the ruling that legalized abortion should be overturned, a position certain to spur tough questioning at January's confirmation hearings. In a recommendation to the solicitor general on filing a friend-of-court brief, Alito said the government "should make clear that we disagree with Roe v. Wade and would welcome the opportunity to brief the issue of whether, and if so to what extent, that decision should be overruled." The June 3, 1985 document was one of 45 released by the National Archives on Friday. A total of...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr., 55, embraced a reclusive lifestyle at Yale Law School during the early 1970s. For fun, recalls Mark Dwyer, who roomed with Judge Alito for three years at Yale, "Sam would go back to the room and study." Judge Alito, a Catholic, arrived at law school during tumultuous times on the heels of widespread student protests against the Vietnam War and soon after the controversial murder trial in New Haven of Black Panther party chairman Robert G. "Bobby" Seale. But his focus was turned inward -- to the Ivy League...

Washington, D.C. — Concerned Women for America (CWA) chastised NARAL Pro-Choice America for following its despicable attack on John Roberts with a desperate assault on Samuel Alito. “NARAL does itself a disservice by applying its usual tactics to Samuel Alito,” said Wendy Wright, Executive Vice President of CWA. “Abortion enthusiasts rely on euphemisms to cover up the gruesome reality of abortion. And, desperate over losing voters, they are following the advice of political gurus to claim their ‘moral’ position. But the clumsy attempt to do both in its report only leaves readers shaking their heads. “One section addresses a ‘Federal...

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) threatened yesterday to strip Democrats of the power to filibuster if they block the vote on Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. "It would be against the intent of the Founding Fathers and our Constitution to deny Sam Alito an up-or-down vote on the floor of the United States Senate," he said on "Fox News Sunday." His willingness to consider a procedural maneuver called the "nuclear option" seemed somewhat premature. Last week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said that although he anticipates intense questioning of Alito during next month's hearings, he...