Senate panel to vote Tuesday on Alito

[UpInArms]

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B774F8A10%2DB8EA%2D4015%2D9CEA%2DF6972DD4ADFB%7D&symbol=&siteid=mktw

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Samuel Alito is expected to move one step closer to the Supreme Court when the Senate Judiciary Committee meets Tuesday to vote on his nomination to the high court.

The panel's 10 Republicans are likely to vote to recommend Alito's nomination to the full Senate, which is expected to confirm him later this week. Half of the committee's eight Democrats, including Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, have said they'll vote against Alito.

If Alito is confirmed by the full Senate, his approval would represent a victory for President Bush, marking the second time in his two-term presidency a candidate of his choosing has taken a Supreme Court seat.

The conservative Alito would join newly minted Chief Justice John Roberts on the Supreme Court and replace Sandra Day O'Connor, a moderate conservative identified as the swing vote on many issues.

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Democrats said the one-time Reagan administration lawyer would put too much power in the hands of the executive branch at a time when the White House has drawn fire for authorizing spying on U.S. citizens.

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[Wordie]

1. Filibuster Possible, Says Durbin

January 23, 2006

Judiciary Committee Votes Tomorrow on Alito; Filibuster Possible, Says Durbin
Already, at least nine Senators have come out publicly and strongly against Alito’s confirmation, including four who voted in favor of confirming John Roberts as chief justice. In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), the Democratic Whip, said that a filibuster was possible. "A week ago, I would have told you it's not likely to happen," Durbin said. "As of , I just can't rule it out. I was surprised by the intensity of feeling of some of my colleagues. It's a matter of counting. We have 45 Democrats, counting Jim Jeffords, on our side. We could sustain a filibuster if 41 Senators ... are willing to stand and fight.”

http://www.msmagazine.com/news/uswirestory.asp?ID=9481

[acmavm]

2. John Kerry: Stand with us. No on Alito

http://www.johnkerry.com/action/alito/

I've studied Judge Alito's legal record. I met with him one-on-one. After all this, I am left with one simple conclusion: if Judge Alito becomes Supreme Court Justice Alito, he will move the Court backwards.

I will vote against Judge Alito's confirmation, and I hope a majority of Senators choose to join us on the Senate floor, voting and speaking out against him. I know we face tough odds, but this is an important fight.

The bottom line is Judge Alito cannot be trusted on the Supreme Court. We can't trust him to stand up to government abuse of power. We can't trust him to ensure all citizens enjoy equal protection under the law. We can't trust him to protect our right to privacy. We can't trust him to defend mainstream American values.

To muster enough Senators to defeat Judge Alito, the American people have to make it clear that they are against his nomination. That's where you come in. By speaking out, you will help us convince other Senators to join our fight.

Stand with us today against Judge Alito

If you want to understand why Americans don't want Judge Alito on the Supreme Court, just take a look at his record. It paints a disturbing picture.

When it comes to standing up to the abuse of executive power and protecting our right to privacy, he barely has a record. Judge Alito refused to hold the government accountable for excessive force when an unarmed boy was shot and killed, or when an innocent 10 year old girl was strip-searched.

In a speech in 2000, Judge Alito even endorsed a theory suggesting that independent agencies like the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which holds companies responsible for making products safe for kids, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, which stands up to corporate abusers like Enron, are unconstitutional infringements on the President's power.

With this record, how can we expect Alito to stand up to the President when he breaks the law to eavesdrop on American citizens or authorizes the torture of detainees?

Judge Alito's record on civil rights is no better. He saw no legitimate question of discrimination in allowing an all-white jury to sentence a black man to death for killing a white man. His own colleagues have criticized him for ignoring employees' rights to be free from job discrimination. Judge Alito's clear bias is to keep victims of discrimination out of the court system - and to rule in favor of corporate interests.

Judge Alito's record on privacy rights is worst of all. In 1985, Judge Alito actually wrote a memo outlining a strategy to undermine Roe v. Wade by slowly chipping away at its protections. That same year, Judge Alito wrote in a job application that he did not believe in the constitutionality of the right to privacy. Judge Alito's views on privacy rights are not ambiguous; they are openly hostile.

Your voice is essential in this fight.

We have no reason to be hesitant in fighting to keep Samuel Alito off the Supreme Court. None of our fears are based on inference, speculation or assumption. His record speaks for itself -- and it speaks on behalf of extreme ideology and powerful corporations -- not the rights guaranteed by our Constitution.

To join this fight, please sign our letter. When I go down to the Senate floor to speak out against Judge Alito, I'll enter your name in opposition to Alito into the Congressional Record as well. And I'll show my Senate colleagues that as far as the American people are concerned, this is not some inside the beltway conversation; this is a landmark struggle for the future of our nation.

Please join us in this fight for our most cherished rights and freedoms.

Sincerely,

John Kerry

P.S. Please pass this letter on to your friends. We need as many voices as possible joining us and speaking out against Alito.

[nautibits]

3. Just say NO

to Alioto!!

[Wordie]

4. LOL...kick.

[VegasWolf]

5. We 2006 voters are watching intently ... nt