The Senate Judiciary Committee approved President Bush’s
nomination of Samuel Alito in a 10-8 vote Tuesday, clearing the way
for the Senate to begin discussion and debates on his confirmation
to the Supreme Court as early as today.
All 10 Republicans on the committee voted for Alito, and all
eight Democrats voted against him, including Sen. Diane Feinstein,
D-Calif.
If confirmed, Alito would replace Justice Sandra Day
O’Connor, who for more than 20 years was often a swing vote
in the Supreme Court. During her tenure, the court addressed the
legality of abortion with Roe v. Wade and the presidential election
vote controversy in 2000.
Experts say the likely appointment of Samuel Alito to replace
O’Connor would bring a more conservative vote in the
court.
“I think Alito is respected by most elements in the
country. Many people would agree that he is well qualified,”
said Dan Lowenstein, a professor in the UCLA School of Law.
But the Senate will be considering more than Alito’s
qualifications.
With newly appointed Chief Justice John Roberts and the now
likely addition of Alito to the Supreme Court, Lowenstein predicted
that the court would become more conservative, a shift that would
be alarming to many liberals.
“Alito is replacing O’Connor, which is regarded as
the swing vote, and the stakes are higher. I think she’s a
more freewheeling justice than he is. The court is more likely to
be cautious with Roberts and Alito on it,” Lowenstein
said.
Supported by a solid Senate majority including most, if not all,
of the 55 Republicans, the 55-year-old appeals court judge will
most likely be confirmed, as 51 of the 100 members of the Senate
““ 50 Republicans and one Democrat ““ have already
publicly committed to support the nominee.
UCLA Law Professor Grant Nelson said Republicans will likely try
to push for Alito’s confirmation before the president’s
State of the Union address on Jan. 31.
If Alito is confirmed, it would be seen as a Republican victory
due to his moderate-conservative political affiliation, experts
said.
During the course of the confirmation process, senators have
examined his previous rulings for clues about his political
views.
In 1991, he dissented in a 2-1 decision in Planned Parenthood v.
Casey, voting to uphold a Pennsylvania law that requires women to
inform their husbands before having an abortion.
In his appellate court decisions, Alito has tended to support
current capital punishment standards and literal readings of the
First Amendment.
Joining the opposition to Alito’s nomination is Sen. John
Kerry, D-Mass., who ran against Bush in the 2004 presidential
election.
In light of the recent debate over the ethics of wire-tapping,
Kerry said he believes Alito could attempt to reverse previous
court decisions and take a conservative stance on issues like
privacy and abortion.
“I think he will shut the door of court access to the
average person in America. I will vote against him because I think
he will take the court backward,” Kerry said Sunday on
ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”
Nelson, who signed a letter endorsing Alito’s
confirmation, said the source of the controversy over Alito is less
about his political views than the justice he would be
replacing.
“I think Alito’s just as brilliant as Roberts, but
the major obstacle he faces is that, from the left’s
perspective, Roberts was a conservative replacing a conservative
while Alito would replace a moderate,” Nelson said.
Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats argued that Alito’s
views might be too extreme based on his previous rulings,
especially regarding issues like civil rights and abortion, and
said they expect he will not provide an effective check on
presidential powers.
Alito has already upset abortion rights activists by asserting
that Roe v. Wade was an unsettled law.
Abortion rights groups worry Alito’s presence could push
the Supreme Court farther to the right and enable the Court to
change the laws regarding abortion, especially if he ends up
opposing the 1973 ruling.
Supporters of Roe v. Wade marked the 33rd anniversary of the
landmark case that ruled abortion legal by holding a candlelight
vigil in front of the Supreme Court on Sunday, even holding signs
that read, “Alito ““ No Justice for Women.”
Opponents of the divisive decision gathered at various sites
across the country to protest against abortion.
“(Abortion bans are picking) away at our freedom and
privacy, legislature by legislature, law by law, with the ultimate
goal of overturning Roe v. Wade,” Nancy Keenan, president of
the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, told
the Associated Press last week.
NARAL Pro-Choice, an abortion rights group, has lobbied
Democrats in the Senate to filibuster the nomination, which would
be the only way to block it. Senate Democrats have so far shown
little incentive to attempt such an action.
But Celia Cody, director of the California Right to Life
Education Fund, said even if Roe v. Wade were overturned, due to
California’s pro-choice atmosphere and “lenient”
abortion laws, the status of abortion in the state would not
change.
Cody believes, despite the ideological controversy regarding the
issue, that what matters most is the respect for the Constitution
Alito has shown in his rulings.
“He has said he will rule based on the (U.S.) Constitution
and what our constitution said. He puts the facts in front of him
and he sticks to constitution rather than legislate from the
bench,'” Cody said.
In his opening statement to the Committee, Alito said he has
stood by the oath he took when he became a judge in the court of
appeals to be responsible only to the law and the U.S.
Constitution.
“There is nothing that is more important for our republic
than the rule of law. No person in this country, no matter how high
or powerful, is above the law, and no person in this country is
beneath the law,” Alito said.
With reports from Bruin wire services.