Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito's America

progressreport.org
SUPREME COURT
Samuel Alito's America

The right wing demanded the withdrawal of Harriet Miers so she could be
replaced with a judge who met their rigid, ideological litmus test.
This morning, the conservatives got what they wanted. President Bush will
nominate Third Circuite Appeal Court Judge Samuel Alito as the
replacement for swing-voter Sandra Day O'Connor. (In contrast, John Roberts
replaced the very conservative William Rehnquist.) On NBC's Today Show,
law professor Jonathan Turley said there "will be no one to the right of
Sam Alito" on the Supreme Court. Alito's record supports Turley's view.
His history of right-wing judicial activism will be a key issue during
his hearings.

ALITO WOULD OVERTURN ROE V. WADE: In his dissenting opinion in Planned
Parenthood v. Casey, Alito concurred with the majority in supporting
the restrictive abortion-related measures passed by the Pennsylvania
legislature in the late 1980s. Alito went further, however, saying the
majority was wrong to strike down a requirement that women notify their
spouses before having an abortion. The Supreme Court later rejected
Alito's view and also voted to reaffirm Roe v. Wade. [Planned Parenthood of
Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 1991]

ALITO WOULD ALLOW RACE-BASED DISCRIMINATION: Alito dissented from a
decision in favor of a Marriott Hotel manager who said she had been
discriminated against on the basis of race. The majority explained that Alito
would have protected racist employers by "immuniz[ing] an employer from
the reach of Title VII if the employer's belief that it had selected
the 'best' candidate was the result of conscious racial bias." [Bray v.
Marriott Hotels, 1997]

ALITO WOULD ALLOW DISABILITY-BASED DISCRIMINATION: In Nathanson v.
Medical College of Pennsylvania, the majority said the standard for proving
disability-based discrimination articulated in Alito's dissent was so
restrictive that "few if any.cases would survive summary judgment."
Summary judgment allows a case to be dismissed before it goes to trial.
[Nathanson v.Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1991]

ALITO WOULD STRIKE DOWN THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT: The Family
and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) "guarantees most workers up to 12 weeks of
unpaid leave to care for a loved one." The 2003 Supreme Court ruling
upholding FMLA [Nevada v. Hibbs, 2003] essentially reversed a 2000
decision by Alito which found that Congress exceeded its power in passing the
law. [Chittister v. Department of Community and Economic Development,
2000]

ALITO SUPPORTS UNAUTHORIZED STRIP SEARCHES: In Doe v. Groody, Alito
argued that police officers had not violated constitutional rights when
they strip-searched a mother and her ten-year-old daughter while carrying
out a search warrant that authorized only the search of a man and his
home. [Doe v. Groody, 2004]

ALITO HOSTILE TOWARD IMMIGRANTS: In two cases involving the deportation
of immigrants, the majority twice noted Alito's disregard of settled
law. In Dia v. Ashcroft, the majority opinion states that Alito's dissent
"guts the statutory standard" and "ignores our precedent." In Ki Se Lee
v. Ashcroft, the majority stated Alito's opinion contradicted
"well-recognized rules of statutory construction." [Dia v. Ashcroft, 2003; Ki Se
Lee v. Ashcroft, 2004]