Bush Nominates Alito to Replace O'Connor

We interrupt the cartoons to report that Bush has nominated 3rd Circuit Appeals Court Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. to replace Sandra Day O'Connor.

Who is Samuel Alito? Think Progress has the scoop.

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 1980’s. 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, voting 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.” [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 agued 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]

Alito already comes into the nomination process with a nickname: Scalito, a blend of Alito and Scalia. I joke that when Clarence Thomas was appointed to the Supreme Court, it only meant that Scalia got two votes. Now it looks like he'll have three if Alito succeeds since Alito has an ideology that is very similar to Scalia's.

That's a big 'if.' Over the weekend Harry Reid warned Bush not to nominate Alito, signaling possible significant opposition from the Democrats. Republican Lindsey Graham has already stated that if the Democrats try to launch a filibuster, "it will not stand." Bush, predictably, is demanding and up or down vote before the end of the year.

UPDATE: Armando has a new diary up at Kos about the Alito nomination.

UPDATE 2.0: Think Progress reports that on the "Today" show this morning, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley says that Alito is "the top choice for particularly pro-life people. Sam Alito is viewed as someone who is likely to join the hard right in likely narrowing Roe and possibly voting to overturn Roe." In response to Katie Couric's question of whether Alito is a strict constructionist, Turley replied, "Oh absolutely. There will be no one to the right of Sam Alito on this Court. This is a pretty hardcore fellow on abortion issues."

So Bush does what he should have done in the beginning, which is to say mollify his conservative base. And can anyone tell me if Katie Couric really knows the meaning of "strict constructionist"?

UPDATE 3.0: The American Constitution Society has more information on Alito. Turns out the nickname Scalito is not new and ACS has a link to Law.com's evaluation of the nickname. The RNC will allege that the nickname is "ethnically insensitive." The RNC won't be able to explain why it's ethnically insensitive because a) they don't understand ethnic insensitivity (remember "illegal amigos"?) and b) the objections to his nomination have nothing to do with his being Italian American. As an Italian American, I find the Godfather movies and The Sopranos more objectionable than a judge's nickname.

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