Via the NYT we have: Issues and (Possible) Answers: A Primer on the Alito Hearings.
The piece discusses the differences between the hearings that Roberts faced versus what Alito is likely to have to deal with. The main differences underscored being that in Roberts’ case over a decade had passed since the last set of hearing, while in Alito’s case the Roberts’ hearings functions are warm-up for these. Also, the story notes that the Roberts-for-Rehnquist for an conservative-for-conservative swap, but this is a moderate-for-conservative swap.
Much has been made of that latter point over the last several months, although as political scientist Charles Franklin noted a while back, the likelihood is that the replacing of O’Connor with Alito isn’t likely to upset the balance of the Court as much as many have wanted/feared (depending on one’s ideological predilections).
Also, I found the following noteworthy at the end of the piece:
In his 1985 job application, Mr. Alito said that his interest in constitutional law was motivated by disagreement with some decisions of the Warren Court, among them those concerning reapportionment. The decisions, from the 1960’s, required states to draw voting districts with equal populations. Some legal scholars at the time contended that the decisions did not have a basis in the Constitution.Judge Bork, too, was critical of the decisions at his confirmation hearings. “There is nothing in our history that suggests ‘one man one vote’ is the only proper way of apportioning,” he said.
In November, after the disclosure of the 1985 job application, the White House said that Judge Alito now believes that one person one vote is “bedrock principle.”
His 1985 position would have been quite problematic, not to mention unsettling, so it is good to read that he has shifted his position.
Meanwhile, WaPo continues its look at Alito’s career: Proving His Mettle in the Reagan Justice Dept.
Robert Kuttner, writing in BoGlo, notes what will likely be the main are of attack for the Democrats: executive power and specifically the issue of war powers and domestic intelligence gathering (Alito may be the worst choice).
Meanwhile, David Broder takes a more tempered view from his WaPo perch:
But others face a harder task in weighing the Alito nomination. They may well ask: At a time when the administration is asserting a broad right to conduct warrantless wiretaps of Americans’ phone calls, do we really need a Supreme Court that takes an expansionist view of presidential authority? In an era of corporate corruption, do we want to restrict consumers’ and workers’ ability to turn to the courts for help?But the evidence on Alito’s motivations is not one-sided. At the suggestion of White House allies, I spoke with two of his former colleagues who presented compelling personal testimony that he is not a man driven by a personal or ideological agenda.
Robert Del Tufo was the Jimmy Carter-appointed U.S. attorney in New Jersey who employed Alito in the 1970s to handle difficult appellate cases. “There is no ideological bent that I can perceive,” he told me. “He is a balanced human being with great sensitivity for human values and a scholar who analyzes the law and always stays with it.”
Susan Sullivan of San Francisco clerked for Alito during the year he wrote his controversial Casey opinion, upholding portions of a Pennsylvania statute restricting abortion, a decision later overturned by the Supreme Court. Sullivan, who describes herself as “a social progressive who is pro-choice and anti-death penalty,” says, “In general I would react with suspicion to any nominee of this administration. But having worked with him, I know he does not work toward a specific result. He is not intent on advancing his own agenda. He approaches cases in a very impartial way.”
It is that latter point that is key to me.
Let the games begin.
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January 9th, 2006 at 8:40 am
[...] ve swap in the Robert’s confirmation, and this is a conservative for moderate swap. Poliblogger notes: Much has been made of that latter point over the last several months, alt [...]