Alito v. Schumer
First off, go read the transcript from yesterday’s questioning of Judge Alito by the Senate Judiciary Committee – read all of it. It’s really very interesting. My first thought is how little the person being questioned speaks versus the people trying to find the information.
Anyway, Sen. Schumer (D-NY) tried to grill Alito on his views about a woman’s right to abortion. In 1985, then attorney in the Solicitor General’s Office in the Reagan administration wrote the the constitution does not protect a right to an abortion. I think the manner in which the judge eventually responded is uncanny:
SCHUMER: I’m not asking about a question. I’m asking about the Constitution, in all due respect, and something you wrote about…
ALITO: The Constitution contains the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment and the 14th Amendment. It provides protection for liberty. It provides substantive protection. And the Supreme Court has told us what the standard is for determining whether something falls within the scope of those protections.
SCHUMER: Does the Constitution protect the right to free speech?
ALITO: Certainly it does. That’s in the First Amendment.
SCHUMER: So why can’t you answer the question of: Does the Constitution protect the right to an abortion the same way without talking about stare decisis, without talking about cases, et cetera?
ALITO: Because answering the question of whether the Constitution provides a right to free speech is simply responding to whether there is language in the First Amendment that says that the freedom of speech and freedom of the press can’t be abridged. Asking about the issue of abortion has to do with the interpretation of certain provisions of the Constitution.
SCHUMER: Well, OK. I know you’re not going to answer the question. I didn’t expect really that you would, although I think it would be important that you would. I think it’s part of your obligation to us that you do, particularly that you stated it once before so any idea that you’re approaching this totally fresh without any inclination or bias goes by the way side.
Everyone has a bias (or agenda) – Sen. Schumer certainly does – but even deciding to not have an agenda is, in and of itself, an agenda. The statement made about Judge Alito not being expected to answer the question would be brought up later – seems to me like if he didn’t expect an answer, he was wasting his time.
Later, Sen. Cornyn (R-TX) informed Judge Alito of a comment made by the former chief judge of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals (which is where Judge Alito currently sits), Judge Leon Higginbotham. The late Judge Higgenbotham was a liberal judge, and the former president of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP. Judge Higgenbotham and Judge Alito often dissented on opinions of constitutional interpretation, but Judge Higgenbotham said this about Judge Alito:
CORNYN: And would it be fair to say that you and Judge Higginbotham, while you served together, you tend to look at the Constitution differently? In other words, could he fairly be described as a liberal?
ALITO: I think probably most people would describe him that way.
I thought we got along very well and we generally agreed. There were cases in which we disagreed, cases in which I dissented from an opinion that he wrote and I think there were cases in which he dissented from opinions that I wrote.
CORNYN: Well, I wonder if you’re aware of one thing that he was quoted as having said. This is out of the Los Angeles Times, comments he made about you to Judge Timothy Lewis. Quoted in the Los Angeles Times, quote, “Sam Alito is my favorite judge to sit with on the court. He’s a wonderful judge and a terrific human being. Sam Alito is my kind of conservative. He is intellectually honest. He doesn’t have an agenda. He is not an ideologue.”
Were you aware that Judge Higginbotham had said that about you?
ALITO: No, I wasn’t. I was not.
CORNYN: Well, I’m pleased to tell you he did say it, according to the Los Angeles Times. And I think it’s a high compliment that someone who would have, perhaps, such a divergent view and, perhaps, different political beliefs than you would say those sorts of things about you and your record on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.
I don’t know everything about Judge Alito – only God does – but I feel that his appointment to the Supreme Court would be a good replacement for the retiring Justice O’Connor. He is devoted to the judicial process, and considers himself a strict constitutionalist. Not that my opinion means anything though…
