Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr.
Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. (born April 1, 1950) is an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated to the post by President George W. Bush on October 31, 2005 and confirmed by the United States Senate on January 31, 2006 by a vote of 58-42, becoming the Court's 110th Justice[1][2]. Prior to joining the Supreme Court, Alito served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1990 to 2006.
Personal life
Alito's "prophetic" personal-statement in the 1972 Princeton yearbook: "Sam intends to go to law school and eventually to warm a seat on the Supreme Court."
Standing in front of a portrait of former President
Bill Clinton, Martha Alito (right), daughter Laura (left) and son Philip (center) look on as
President Bush announces Samuel Alito's nomination on October 31, 2005
Alito was born in Trenton, New Jersey to Italian American parents: Samuel A. Alito, Sr., and his wife, the former Rose Fradusco. He is a Roman Catholic.
Alito attended Steinert High School in Hamilton Township, New Jersey and graduated from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs with a Bachelor of Arts in 1972 before attending Yale Law School, where he served as editor on the Yale Law Journal and earned a Juris Doctor in 1975.
Alito's father, who is now deceased, was a high school teacher and then became the first Director of the New Jersey Office of Legislative Services, a position he held from 1952 to 1984. Alito's mother is a retired schoolteacher. Alito's sister, Rosemary, is regarded as one of New Jersey's top employment lawyers.
At Princeton, Alito led a student conference in 1971 called "The Boundaries of Privacy in American Society" which, among other things, supported curbs on domestic intelligence gathering, called for the legalization of sodomy, and urged for an end to discrimination against homosexuals in hiring by employers ([3]). During the conference, Alito stated that "no private sexual act between consenting adults should be forbidden."
Alito was a member of the Concerned Alumni of Princeton, which was formed in October 1972 at least in part to oppose Princeton's decisions regarding affirmative action. Apart from Alito's written 1985 statement of membership of CAP on a job application, which Alito says was truthful, there is no other documentation of Alito's involvement with or contributions in the group. Alito has cited the banning and subsequent treatment of ROTC by the university as his reason for belonging to CAP.
While a sophomore at Princeton, Alito received the (low) lottery number of 32, in a Selective Service drawing on December 1, 1969. In 1970, he became a member of the school's Army ROTC program, attending a six-week basic summer camp that year at Fort Knox, Kentucky, in lieu of having been in ROTC during his first two years in college. Graduating in 1972, Alito left a sign of his lofty aspirations in his yearbook, which said that he hoped to "eventually warm a seat on the Supreme Court." [4]
He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps after his graduation and assigned to the United States Army Reserve, one of nine in his class to receive a commission in the Reserve. Following his graduation from Yale Law School in 1975, he served on active duty from September to December 1975, while attending the Officer Basic Course for Signal Corps officers at Fort Gordon, Georgia. The remainder of his time in the Army was served in the inactive Reserves. He had the rank of Captain when he received an Honorable Discharge in 1980. [5]/[6]
Since 1985, Alito has been married to the former Martha-Ann Bomgardner, once a law librarian with family roots in Oklahoma. They live in West Caldwell, New Jersey and have two children: Philip and Laura.
Career
Alito upon his induction as a U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals judge, 1990
Alito argued twelve cases before the Supreme Court for the federal government during his tenure as assistant to the Solicitor General. While serving as an attorney for New Jersey, he prosecuted many cases that involved drug trafficking and organized crime [7].
In his 1985 application for Deputy Assistant to the Attorney General, Alito espoused conservative views, naming William F. Buckley, Jr., the National Review, Alexander Bickel, and Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign as major influences. He also expressed concern about Warren Court decisions in the areas of criminal procedure, the Establishment Clause, and reapportionment. He stated he was proud to prepare cases arguing that "racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion." [8]
Alito was nominated by George H. W. Bush on February 20, 1990 to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Alito was rated by the American Bar Association as "Well Qualified" at the time of his nomination. He was confirmed by unanimous consent in the Senate on April 27, 1990 [9]. As a Third Circuit judge, his chambers were in Newark, New Jersey.
As adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law, Alito has taught courses in Constitutional law and an original course on terrorism and civil liberties. In 1995, Judge Alito was presented with that law school's Saint Thomas More Medal, "in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of law." [10]
Nomination to U.S. Supreme Court
Samuel Alito acknowledges his nomination.
- Main article: Samuel Alito Supreme Court nomination
On July 1, 2005, Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor sent a letter to President George W. Bush, announcing her retirement from the Supreme Court effective upon the confirmation of a successor. President Bush first nominated John Roberts to the vacancy; however, when Chief Justice of the United States William Rehnquist died on September 3, Bush withdrew Roberts' nomination to fill O'Connor's seat and instead nominated Roberts to the Chief Justiceship. President Bush next nominated Harriet Miers to replace O'Connor. However, Miers withdrew her acceptance of the nomination on October 27 after encountering widespread opposition.
On October 31, 2005, President Bush announced that he was nominating Alito to O'Connor's seat, and he submitted the nomination to the Senate on November 10, 2005.
Judge Alito was unanimously rated "well qualified" to fill the Associate Justice post by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary. The committee rates judges as "qualified," "not qualified," or "well qualified." [11] The ABA rating measures the professional qualifications of the nominee.
Confirmation hearings
Alito's confirmation hearing was held from Monday, 9 January 2006 to Friday, January 13. On Tuesday, January 24, his nomination was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 10-8 party line vote. Debate on the nomination began in the full Senate on Wednesday, January 25. On January 26, 2006, US Senator and 2004 Presidential candidate John Kerry called for a filibuster against Judge Alito.[12] A cloture vote passed to end debate on Monday, January 30, by a 72-25 margin. The next morning, at 11:20 AM, the Senate confirmed Alito to the Supreme Court by a vote of 58-42.[13]
Four Democratic senators voted to confirm Alito's appointment: Robert Byrd (WV), Kent Conrad (ND), Tim Johnson (SD) and Ben Nelson (NE). One Republican, Lincoln Chafee (Rhode Island), voted against the appointment.
Shortly after his confirmation, Alito was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts in a private ceremony. A formal ceremony took place a day later.
U.S. Supreme Court career
Alito ceremoniously sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts the day after his confirmation, February 1, 2006.
On February 1, 2006, in Alito's first decision sitting on the Supreme Court, he voted with the majority (6-3) to refuse Missouri's request to vacate the stay of execution issued by United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit for death-row inmate Michael Taylor; Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas were in favor of vacating the stay. Missouri had twice asked the justices to lift the stay and permit the execution. [14]
By joining the court mid-term, Alito has not heard arguments for many cases which have yet to be decided. If there is a deadlock in a pending case, Alito may be asked to break the tie—requiring the court to rehear the case—or the tie could stand and the decision of the court below would be affirmed, but the decision would not become precedent. [15]
Circuit Court case history
The following is a short overview of some of the more notable opinions that Alito has authored:
Federalism
First Amendment
- A majority opinion in Saxe v. State College Area School District, 240 F.3d 200 (3d Cir. 2001) [16], holding that the public school district's anti-harassment policy, which prohibited harassment based on sexual orientation among other criteria, was unconstitutionally overbroad and therefore violated First Amendment guarantees of free speech. Alito wrote: No court or legislature has ever suggested that unwelcome speech directed at another's 'values' may be prohibited under the rubric of anti-discrimination.
- A majority opinion [17] in ACLU v. Schundler, 168 F.3d 92 (3d Cir. 1999), addressing the circumstances under which a government-sponsored holiday display may or may not contain religious symbols. The case held that a holiday display consisting solely of religious symbols was impermissible, but a mixed display including both secular and religious symbols was permissible if balanced in a generally secular context. The decision relied on County of Allegheny v. ACLU - a previous Supreme Court decision that had permitted such mixed displays. The ACLU had argued that a previous city display that was ruled unconstitutional because it lacked secular symbols colored the purpose of the new display.
- A dissenting opinion in C.H. v. Oliva et al. (3rd Cir., 2000)[18] arguing that the removal and subsequent replacement in "a less conspicuous spot" of a kindergartener's religious themed poster was, at least potentially, a violation of his right to Free Expression.
Harassment and discrimination
- A majority opinion in Williams v. Price, 343 F.3d 223 (3d Cir. 2003), [19] granting a writ of habeas corpus to a black state prisoner after state courts had refused to consider the testimony of a witness who stated that a juror had uttered derogatory remarks about blacks during an encounter in the courthouse after the conclusion of the trial.
Other decisions
- In a dissent to Doe v. Groody, Alito argued that qualified immunity should have protected police officers from a finding of having violated constitutional rights when they strip-searched a mother and her ten-year-old daughter while carrying out a search warrant that authorized the search of a residence. The mother and daughter were not referred to in the warrant, although the affidavit with the warrant requested permission to "search all occupants of the residence and their belongings." The majority opinion found that the warrant did not grant such permission, arguing that references to the affidavit in the warrant were specific and the omission of the language in question was not found to be the result of an error, clerical or otherwise.[20] This controversial opinion earned Judge Alito the nickname "Strip-Search Sammy" from his detractors.
Related documents
- Legal Memo written while working in the Solicitor General's office regarding the Fleeing felon rule. [21] (May 18, 1984) (PDF)
- ‘Personal Qualifications Statement’ when applying to be an Assistant Attorney General under Pres. Ronald Reagan. [22] (Nov. 15, 1985)
- Legal Memo written as Deputy Asst. Attorney General to the OMB’s General Counsel regarding OMB authority of FDIC funds. [23] (1986) (PDF)
- House Committee on the Judiciary testimony regarding unpublished court opinions. [24](1990) (PDF)
- 2003 Financial Disclosure [25]
- 2004 Financial Disclosure [26]
- Response to a Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire [27](Nov. 30 2005) (PDF), (Appendix1 Appendix2 Appendix3 Appendix4)
Additional information
Those who compare Alito's ideology to that of conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia have nicknamed him "Scalito" (a portmanteau of "Scalia" and "Alito" that appears to have originated in a 1992 National Law Journal article). The National Italian American Foundation, a bipartisan organization that has supported Nancy Pelosi [28], has stated the use of the "Scalito" nickname "marginalizes [Alito's] outstanding record." [29].
Alito is the eleventh Catholic to serve on the Supreme Court and the fifth on the current Court (along with Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justices Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas), creating the first majority-Catholic Supreme Court in history. See also: Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States.
He is a member in good standing of the Federalist Society, a group of conservatives and libertarians dedicated to "reforming the current legal order."
See also
Notes
- ^ Alito sworn in as nation's 110th Supreme Court justice (CNN.com). URL accessed on February 4, 2006.
- ^ Hurt, Charles, "Alito sworn in as 110th justice", The Washington Times, February 1, 2006. URL accessed on February 3.
- ^ "Alito has a record of steady conservatism, reputation for civility", Chicago Tribune, October 31, 2005
References
External links
Profiles
Analysis
Research
The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Alito under GFDL
