Samuel A. Alito
Supreme Court Nominee Profile
Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr., has demonstrated that he is a devoted ideologue who would, in fact, roll back, rather than defend, hard-won constitutional freedoms. He has opposed reproductive rights and the legal autonomy of women. In numerous rulings he has voiced a restrictive view of anti-discrimination laws protecting minorities, women, older workers, and persons with disabilities. He would limit Congress's ability to enact social and regulatory legislation based on a cramped view of congressional powers. And he favors the display of religious symbols on public property. NCJW opposed Alito's confirmation.
Nomination Status
Press Releases
Nominee Record
Other Organizations Opposing This Nominee
Nomination Status
On January 31, 2006 the Senate voted 58-42 to confirm Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. as associate justice on the United States Supreme Court. Judge Alito is the 110th person to be confirmed to this seat, succeeding "swing vote" Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Earlier, on January 30, the Senate voted 72-25 to invoke cloture and end debate on the confirmation of Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. to a lifetime position on the Supreme Court.
On January 24, 2006, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-8 to send the nomination of Judge Alito to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation.
Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr., was nominated to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court by President Bush on October 31, 2005. NCJW opposed Alito's confirmation.
Press Releases
January 31, 2006
In Wake of Alito Confirmation, NCJW Pledges Action to Protect Rights
January 24, 2006
NCJW Calls on Full Senate to Reject Alito
January 13, 2006
Senate Committee Should Reject Alito, NCJW Says
January 11, 2006
NCJW Provides Testimony on the Nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr., to be Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
January 5, 2006
NCJW Steps up Mobilization Against Alito for Supreme Court
January 3, 2006
NCJW President Phyllis Snyder's Op-Ed on Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. Published by JTA
December 1, 2005
NCJW Calls Latest Alito Memoranda the Smoking Gun
October 31, 2005
NCJW Opposes Alito for Supreme Court
Nominee Record
Judge Alito is, by his own description, a strong conservative. In his 1985 application for the job of Deputy Assistant Attorney General, he wrote, "I am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government has argued before the Supreme Court that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion." He also stated that his motivation for pursuing a career in law was his disagreement with decisions of the Warren Court -- decisions regarding criminal procedure, religion-state separation, and the historic one-man, one-vote decision that equalized rural and urban representation and, therefore, racial representation in state legislatures. After joining the Justice Department, Alito actively worked against abortion rights. When the Supreme Court agreed to hear the abortion case, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists v. Thornburgh, Alito wrote a legal strategy memo asking, "What can be made of this opportunity to advance the goals of bringing about the eventual overruling of Roe v. Wade and, in the meantime, of mitigating its effects?'
Judge Alito's opinion in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey reveals a view of women and reproductive freedom that would severely undermine women's equality before the law and the remaining principles of Roe v. Wade. In Casey, the 3rd Circuit upheld a law regulating abortion, except for a provision that required a woman to notify her husband of her decision to have an abortion. Judge Alito dissented -- dismissing concerns that a battered woman would risk harm by being forced to notify her abusive husband of such a choice. Judge Alito also argued for a "rational basis standard" of review for abortion-related laws that would have permitted nearly any state restriction to survive scrutiny. Later, when the entire law reached the Supreme Court on appeal, a plurality likened the restriction that Alito would have upheld to 19th century views that "a woman had no legal existence separate from her husband, who was regarded as her head and representative in the social state." In Casey, Justice O'Connor established the "undue burden" standard that now governs abortion law, seen as requiring state regulation to meet a higher burden of necessity than Alito’s proposed "rational basis" standard.
In several discrimination cases, Judge Alito would have contravened Supreme Court precedent by overturning the burden of proof requirement that currently permits a claim of discrimination to be heard in court. He was, for example, a minority of one in denying a hearing to a female hotel employee complaining of sexual harassment. He also dissented in the case of another hotel employee charging racial bias. In that case his colleagues accused him of acting as fact finder in the case rather than ruling simply on the application of the law. He was similarly criticized in yet another case involving the reasonable accommodation of a disabled medical student. In an age discrimination case, he chose to disregard a prejudicial statement made by the employer because it was 4 to 5 months old.
Judge Alito has based two of his key decisions on a cramped of view of Congress's power to legislate. He voted to overturn a ban on machine gun sales enacted by Congress and to overturn a requirement that state governments adhere to the Family and Medical Leave Act. These decisions lay the basis for undermining future efforts by Congress to enact remedial legislation it deems necessary in its role as the legislative branch of government.
Judge Alito's record regarding separation of state and religion is sparse. While he upheld the right of Muslim police officers to wear a beard on the job, he voted to allow a display of religious symbols on public property because they included non-religious figures such as Frosty the Snowman -- figures added after complaints were made that the original display included only a menorah and a crèche.
He also signed onto a dissent arguing that, by allowing students to approve student-led prayers at graduations by majority vote, a public school board could evade a Supreme Court ruling barring school-approved, clergy-led prayers at such ceremonies.
Other Organizations Opposing This Nominee
9to5, National Association of Working Women
ADA Watch/National Coalition for Disability Rights
AFL-CIO
AFSCME
Alaska Center for the Environment
Alaska Wildlife Alliance
Alliance for Justice
American Association for Affirmative Action
American Association of University Women
American Civil Liberties Union
Americans for Democratic Action
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Asian American Justice Center
Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living
Black Womens Health Imperative
Brady Center to Oppose Gun Violence
Buckeye Forest Council
Calilfornians for Alternatives to Toxics
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Native Ecosystems
Change to Win Federation
Citizens for Public Resources
Communication Workers of America
Community Rights Counsel
Congressional Black Caucus
Earthjustice
Endangered Habitats League
Endangered Species Coalition
Environmental Law Foundation
Feminist Majority
Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Inyo
Gay Men's Health Crisis
Gifford Pinchot Task Force
Great Old Broads for Wilderness
Greenpeace
Hispanic Federation
Human Rights Campaign
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Ipas
Jewish Labor Committee
Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Kentucky Resources Council, Inc.
Laborers' International Union of North America
Lambda Legal
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
League of United Latin American Citizens
Mexican American Legal Defense Fund
Michigan Nature Association
MoveOn
Mujeres Latinas en Accion
NARAL Pro-Choice America
National Abortion Federation
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy
NAACP-Legal Defense Fund
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Coalition for Disability Rights
National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy
National Association of Social Workers
National Council of Women's Organizations
National Council on Independent Living
National Employment Lawyers Association
National Environmental Trust
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Foundation
National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
National Lawyers Guild
National Organization for Women
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Urban League
National Women's Law Center
Northwest Environmental Advocates
The Olympic Forest Coalition
Oregon Natural Resources Council Fund
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
People for the American Way
Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Sagebrush Sea Campaign
Service Employees International Union
The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the US
The Shalom Center
Sierra Club
UAW
Union for Reform Judaism
Unitarian Universalist Association
UNITE HERE
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
United Farm Workers of America
United Food and Commercial Workers International Union
United States Hispanic Leadership Institute
USAction
Violence Policy Center
Western Environmental Law Center
The Wilderness Society
The Woodhull Freedom Federation
The Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring
World Association of People With Disabilities
YWCA USA