Senate Confirms Samuel Alito Jr. to Supreme Court
Senators voted on Tuesday to confirm Judge Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. as nation’s 110th Supreme Court Justice in a contested partisan vote.
Senators voted on Tuesday to confirm Judge Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. as nation’s 110th Supreme Court Justice in a contested partisan vote that was much closer than that of Chief Justice John Roberts last year.
The senate voted 58 to 42 to confirm Alito, who replaces the retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
“I am pleased that the Senate has voted to confirm Judge Sam Alito as the 110th Justice of the Supreme Court,” said President George W. Bush. “Sam Alito is a brilliant and fair-minded judge who strictly interprets the Constitution and laws and does not legislate from the bench. He is a man of deep character and integrity, and he will make all Americans proud as a Justice on our highest court.”
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Many view Alito as a judge with a conservative judicial philosophy who will move the court to the right on many of the most controversial social issues of the day.
The two weeks preceding Tuesday’s vote were a war of words between conservative and liberal senators, along with numerous interest groups making their cases for his confirmation or rejection.
Only four democrats joined a nearly unanimous Republican party in approving Alito. Last year, Roberts received 22 Democratic votes and was confirmed by a 78 to 22 margin.
Conservative groups, including various Christian organizations which had supported a vote for Alito, hailed Tuesday’s confirmation as an important victory for the nation.
“There is no question that Justice Alito will serve the nation and the high court with honor and distinction,” said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice. “It is disappointing that some senators caved in to the far left ideologues who opposed Judge Alito. Even so, this is an important and proud day for America.”
During last month’s confirmation hearings for Alito, one of the most controversial issues was his assertion in 1985 as an attorney within the Reagan administration that the Constitution did not support the right to an abortion.
When questioned by the senators, however, Alito said that now as a judge his role was different than that of an advocate for the administration, stating that he didn’t have an agenda to overturn abortion law precedent. However Alito did leave the door open to overturning the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, refusing to call it “settled law.”
Liberal organizations, many of which support legalized abortion, had opposed the nominee but acknowledged that today’s vote was nearly a foregone conclusion. National Organization for Women President Kim Gandy focused disparaging remarks on senators who chose to end the debate on Alito yesterday and go to confirmation vote.
She noted that yesterday’s vote by senators to end the debate on Alito and head into a final vote today was a pivotal moment. Votes by some senators to take a “valiant stand for justice” to extend the debate were the only votes that really mattered. Gandy said certain senators should have put up more of a fight.
“But in the process we exposed the despicable agenda of the right wing, and their unrelenting determination to undermine our rights and liberties,” she said.
Jan Larue, chief counsel for Concerned Women for America, also praised the confirmation but felt that some of the attacks to Alito’s character during the hearings were “completely unjustified.”
Such tactics, she added, were “sheer desperation” by liberal senators.
"Judge Alito is everything a judge should be and I am confident he will rule with both integrity and respect for the rights of every American,” she said.
Judge Alito and his family watched the senate floor vote together with President Bush at the White House. He will be sworn in a private ceremony by Chief Justice John Roberts in a private ceremony later today, according to the Associated Press.
He is scheduled to attend the President’s annual state of the Union address later today and will be sworn in a second time at a ceremony at the White House on Wednesday.
