Justice Alito? Some Say He's a New High Court Favorite

[NVMojo]

10-31-2005


The short list of potential nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court suddenly appeared much shorter Friday as 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. quickly emerged as perhaps the most likely second choice to fill Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's seat.

In the wake of Harriet Miers' withdrawal of her nomination, the New York Times reported Friday that Alito was one of three "finalists" three weeks ago when Miers was chosen. The other, according to the Times, was 4th Circuit Judge J. Michael Luttig. Hours later, on the popular law blog, SCOTUSblog.com, attorney Tom Goldstein was predicting that Alito would be picked -- and soon.

"Judge Alito would energize the president's conservative supporters. But he would not be as much of a fight as the others. Luttig and <5th Circuit Judge Priscilla> Owen, in particular, raise the serious prospect of a filibuster and it seems unlikely in the current environment that the administration is anxious to have that fight," Goldstein wrote.

more...

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1130499501705

[deadparrot]

1. Reid has spoken out against Alito in particular.

That's far from a guaranteed filibuster, but it's a positive sign.

[NVMojo]

2. good ...

[PDittie]

3. "Scalito"

Here's what * did this weekend, since last we saw him praising Scooter as a "great patriot":

Bush spent the weekend at Camp David huddled with Miers, who remains his White House counsel and is therefore in charge of the judicial selection process, along with Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr., who originally advocated Miers as the first choice to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. As the three talked, White House officials contacted prominent conservatives to test the reaction to various candidates.

One group consulted was the Concerned Women for America, whose decision to oppose Miers last Wednesday became one of the final blows to help kill the nomination. Janet M. LaRue, the group's chief counsel, said it received a call from the White House on Saturday and liked what it heard.

"Alito and Luttig have always been at the top of our list," she said in an interview. "We think either of them would be a supreme pick. There isn't a thing stealthy about them. They've got a long, proven record of constitutional conservatism."

Other conservatives yesterday also embraced Alito, in particular. "Alito, Luttig -- all these people are solid conservatives," Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said on CBS's "Face the Nation." On CNN's "Late Edition," Gary L. Bauer, president the conservative group American Values, described his criteria for a Supreme Court justice and added, "Certainly, Judge Alito fits those characterizations."

And here's how Harry Reid reacted:

A judge on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Alito has been dubbed "Scalito" or "Scalia-lite" by some lawyers because his judicial philosophy invites comparisons to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's.

"That is not one of the names that I've suggested to the president," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told "Late Edition" on CNN. "In fact, I've done the opposite. I think it would create a lot of problems."

Reid said Bush would be making a "mistake" were he to settle on a hard-liner simply to appease the far right in his party, especially after conservatives' wrath undermined Miers' nomination.

My prediction is a filibuster and a nuke.

[NVMojo]

6. Harriett Miers went to Camp David with him ...now we know why ...

[0007]

4. A very auspicious move by junior if this is his choice!

Born on April Fool's Day in 1950, the 55-year-old Alito might be exactly what Bush is looking for. His resume reads like a recipe for high court consideration -- beginning with undergrad studies at Princeton, perhaps the Ivy League's most welcoming home for conservatives seeking elite educations, and a law degree from Yale, the Bush family's sentimental favorite.

[kurth]

5. Alito would require a woman to notify her husband before an abortion

Nicknamed "Scalito" by some who compare him to Scalia, Alito voted to uphold a Pennsylvania law that required a woman to notify her husband before an abortion -- a law rejected by the Supreme Court -- and wrote a decision upholding a city holiday display that included a creche and menorah...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/30/AR2005103000910.html

[0007]

7. Thanks for the link! n/t

[Rockholm]

8. Breaking: Just Nominated by Voldemort.