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Supreme Court Politics - They call him "Scalito"

They call him "Scalito"

Bush Selects Alito for Supreme Court
By Fred Barbash and Peter Baker / The Washington Post
President Bush today named appeals court Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the U.S. Supreme Court. Alito, 55, serves on the Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, where his record on abortion rights and church-state issues has been widely applauded by conservatives and criticized by liberals. While he has been dubbed "Scalito" by some lawyers for a supposed affinity to conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and his Italian-American heritage, most observers believe that greatly oversimplifies his record. Alito is considered far less provocative a figure than Scalia both in personality and judicial temperament. His opinions and dissents tend to be dryly analytical rather than slashing. In addition, his appeals court record is not uniformly conservative on the sorts of issues that arise in Supreme Court confirmation battles.

Bush Picks Alito for Supreme Court
By Ron Fournier / The Associated Press
President Bush, stung by the rejection of his first choice, nominated veteran judge Samuel Alito on Monday in a bid to reshape the Supreme Court and mollify his conservative allies. Ready-to-rumble Democrats warned that Alito may be an extremist who would curb abortion rights. "Judge Alito has served with distinction on that court for 15 years, and now has more prior judicial experience than any Supreme Court nominee in more than 70 years," Bush said, drawing an unspoken contrast to his first choice, Harriet Miers.

Nomination Likely to Please G.O.P., but Not Some Democrats
By Christine Hauser And David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times
President Bush nominated Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., who currently serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, to the Supreme Court today, four days after his previous choice withdrew her nomination. According to a statement released by the White House this morning, Jude Alito was born in April 1950 in Trenton. He graduated from Princeton University in 1972, and went to Yale Law School, where he earned a J.D. in 1975. From 1977-1980, Judge Alito served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the appellate division, where he argued cases before the circuit court to which he was later appointed.

Bush Nominates Judge Alito to Fill Court Vacancy
By James Gerstenzang / Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON -- President Bush today nominated Samuel A. Alito Jr., a federal appeals court judge from New Jersey who has had strong backing from Bush's conservative allies, to the U.S. Supreme Court. If confirmed by the Senate, Alito, 55, a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, would replace Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman on the court. Appointed to the bench by President George H. W. Bush after serving as the U.S. attorney in New Jersey, he has been an appellate court judge for 15 years. His extensive history handling appeals cases — first as a clerk, eventually as a lawyer appearing before the court, and then on an appeals court itself — stands in sharp contrast to Miers' resume. She had spent little time in any court room while working as a corporate lawyer, and none during the past five years in the Bush White House. Indeed, Bush said, Alito has had more experience as a judge than any Supreme Court nominee in the past 70 years.

Bush's New Nominee: Not Always On The Same Page As Scalia
A Review Of Sam Alito’s Major Decisions
By Sean Scully/ TIME
The conservative bent of judge Sam Alito, who President Bush nominated this morning to the U.S. Supreme Court, has prompted facile comparisons to Justice Antonin Scalia, arguably the most stridently conservative member of the court. But clerks and associates say the comparison, often made with the derisive nickname of "Scalito," does a disservice to the man. "I think he really looks at the facts of the case, he'd very realistic," says former clerk Katherine K. Huang. "He doesn't have his head in the clouds. He's not going to be carried away by some legal doctrine or some arcane grammatical rule." Huang is refering to a little-known Social Security case in 2002 which may be instructive when it comes to comparing Alito to Scalia.

Profile of Samuel Alito Jr.
By Bret Schulte / U.S.News & World Report
Nicknamed "Scalito" for views resembling those of conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito Jr. is a favorite son of the political right. Appointed in 1990 by George H.W. Bush to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, Alito has earned a reputation for intellectual rigor and polite but frequent dissent in a court that has been historically liberal. His mettle, as well as a personable demeanor and ties to former Republican administrations, has long had observers buzzing about his potential rise to the high court. "Sam Alito is in my mind the strongest candidate on the list," says Pepperdine law Prof. Douglas Kmiec. "I know them all . . . but I think Sam is a standout because he's a judge's judge. He approaches cases with impartiality and open-mindedness."

Assorted Reactions to Alito Nomination
The Associated Press
Here are statements that various members of Congress and other figures made in reaction to President Bush's selection of federal appellate court Judge Samuel Alito Monday to be a member of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Posted by Editor at October 31, 2005 12:00 PM