Supreme Court Nominee Alito

WASHINGTON - The battle lines are clear for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito: Moderates and liberals want him to repudiate his work for the Reagan administration while conservatives urge him to hold his ground — or his tongue — on issues that could provoke a Democratic filibuster.
On Tuesday, the second day of confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, "we get down to business," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat.
Durbin is one of the senators who want to hear
President Bush's pick to replace retiring Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor talk about his positions on abortion, presidential war powers and other controversial issues.
Conservatives say they're ready to defend Alito's right not to delve into contentious issues that could prompt the Senate's Democrats to launch a filibuster, especially on issues that Alito might deal with as a Supreme Court justice.
"I want you to know that I will strongly defend your refusal to answer any question that you believe to be improper," said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.
Others, like Orrin Hatch and Lindsey Graham, already are telegraphing their support. "It's possible you could talk me out of voting for you, but I doubt it," Graham, R-S.C., told the judge Monday. Added Hatch, R-Utah, to reporters: "As of right now, there's no question that he's going to have my vote."
Alito stayed away from controversial topics in his opening statement, instead saying that a judge's only obligation "is to the rule of law. And what that means is that in every single case, the judge has to do what the law requires."
As a federal appellate judge, "I swore that I would administer justice without respect to persons, that I would do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I would carry out my duties under the Constitution and the laws of the United States," Alito said. "And that is what I have tried to do to the very best of my ability for the past 15 years. And if I am confirmed, I pledge to you that that is what I would do on the Supreme Court."
Democrats, who see Alito taking O'Connor's swing vote on many court decisions, were not assuaged.
"Judge Alito's assurances today provide scant comfort to those who want a mainstream judge and demand rigorous questions tomorrow," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said after the opening session.
After three hours of Democrats criticizing Alito, and Republicans alternating between praising the judge and condemning his detractors, Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., worried that decisions had already been made before the first question had been asked.
"That applies to a few of the senators on my side of the aisle, but many more among the Democrats," Specter said.
Democrats made clear Monday that they intend to question Alito with unusual aggressiveness about abortion, presidential powers in an age of terrorism, his personal credibility and more.
Senators who have met privately with Alito, 55, say he told them that his 1985 written comments maintaining there was no constitutional right to abortion were only part of a job application for the Reagan administration, which opposed abortion.
He wrote in a separate legal memo while at the Justice Department that the department should try to chip away at abortion rights rather than mount an all-out assault.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said at Monday's hearing that senators are fooling themselves if they don't think the final battle will be over the Roe v. Wade's ruling that established a right to abortion.
"We're going to go off in all sorts of directions, but the decisions that are going to be made on votes on the committee and the votes on the floor is going to be about Roe," Coburn said.
Republicans said their Democratic counterparts can't force Alito to answer questions about cases that may come before him on the Supreme Court. Specter has long said he won't stop senators from asking questions, yet he's also said he won't force Alito to answer.
"It has been my experience that the hearings are really, in effect, a subtle minuet, with the nominee answering as many questions as he thinks necessary in order to be confirmed," Specter said.
For Democrats, that may not be good enough.
"I really hope that this doesn't turn out to be a minuet. I hope it turns out to be conversation," Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., told Alito. "I believe we owe it to the American people in this one democratic moment to have a conversation about the issues that will affect their lives profoundly. They're entitled to know what you think."
The division — with Alito square in the middle — can be clearly seen. Alito is seated at a witness table in the middle of the room in front of Specter — a moderate Republican — with conservatives to Specter's right and liberals to his left.


If Alito is confirmed, you can almost guarantee that Roe will be overturned (whether in 1 year or 15), and that, my friends, is a true American injustice.