CHICAGO TRIBUNE
(Chicago, IL)
Jan. 31, 2006, n.p.

Copyright © 2006 Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services. January 31, 2006. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission.

Alito Confirmed, Sworn In for High Court

By Jeff Zeleny
Chicago Tribune(KRT)

Samuel Alito Confirmation President George Bush shakes the hand of Samuel Alito, Jr., as he is confirmed as the 110th associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, Tuesday, January 31, 2006, in Washington, D.C.

     WASHINGTON--Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. was sworn in Tuesday as an associate justice of the Supreme Court after surviving one of the most contentious and partisan confirmation battles in modern history, opening the door to a new era of conservatism on the high court.

     The Senate voted 58-42 to confirm Alito, filling the seat vacated by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, whose moderate voice proved pivotal during more than two decades on the bench. Alito, whose ideology was sharpened as a young lawyer in the Reagan administration, is almost certain to hold a critical vote on issues involving abortion, affirmative action, presidential power and civil rights.

     While Alito did not specifically reveal how he would decide such cases, his confirmation was hailed by social conservative leaders as a momentous moment that could help overturn the landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling that established abortion rights. At the same time, liberal groups vilified his confirmation as a threat to civil liberties.

     With the confirmation of Alito, President Bush has successfully placed a conservative imprint on the Supreme Court that will long outlast his presidency. By nominating two justices to the court in the last four months--Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts--Bush fulfilled a campaign pledge to tap staunch conservatives in the mold of two other justices, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

     A last-ditch effort to filibuster Alito's confirmation failed this week to win enough support from Democrats. Yet in the final tally on Tuesday, all but four Democrats voted against him, solidifying the most partisan vote for a Supreme Court justice in recent times.

     "The million-dollar question is how history will judge him and we don't know," Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, the only Republican to oppose Alito, said in an interview. "I decided my vote based on my fear that the Scalia-Thomas gravitational pull will be strong on Alito and Roberts."

     The four Democrats who voted to confirm Alito were Robert Byrd, W.Va.; Kent Conrad, N.D.; Tim Johnson, S.D.; and Ben Nelson, Neb. Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont, an independent, voted against Alito.

     Alito, a 55-year-old appellate court judge from New Jersey, watched the Senate vote with his family in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. An hour later, Roberts administered the oath during a private ceremony at the Supreme Court, allowing Alito to immediately participate in court decisions and to sit with other justices at the State of the Union address Tuesday evening.

     "Sam Alito is a brilliant and fair-minded judge who strictly interprets the Constitution and laws and does not legislate from the bench," Bush said. "He is a man of deep character and integrity, and he will make all Americans proud as a justice on our highest court."

     The ascension of Alito, though, underscores the first fundamental reshaping of the court in more than a decade. The first term of the Bush administration expired without a seat opening on the Supreme Court, but the retirement of O'Connor and the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist paved the way for Bush to achieve what the conservative political movement has dreamed of for a generation.

     "With two appointments, the president has made a dramatic imprint on the court," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in an interview. "With John Roberts as chief justice we are likely to see two or three decades of very conservative leadership on the court. Filling the swing vote on the court with Sam Alito, I'm afraid is going to tip the scales of justice to the right for a long time."

     Democrats had hoped to paint the nominee as a rigid ideologue, but in more than 18 hours of testimony before the Judiciary Committee last month, Alito did not engage. He answered questions with a calm demeanor, reminding senators that he grew up as the son of an Italian immigrant in working class New Jersey.

     Alito was not, however, the president's first choice. He was nominated in October after White House Counsel Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination following an uproar by conservative leaders who questioned her lack of experience and judicial philosophy.

U.S. Supreme Court Justices With the addition of the Supreme Court's newest member, Justice Samuel Alito Jr., top row at right, the high court sits for a new group photograph. Seated in the front row, from left to right are: Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, and Associate Justice David Souter. Standing, from left to right, in the top row: Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Associate Justice Samuel Alito Jr.

     But as Alito takes his seat, a list of questions remain about his views on several controversial issues. On abortion, for example, he said he would respect precedent, but refused to say that Roe vs. Wade was settled law. And on presidential power, he challenged Democratic senators who suggested he would give Bush too much authority over the civil liberties of Americans.

     "One thing about lifetime appointees is they always surprise you a little bit," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said in an interview.

     Conservative leaders, though, expect few surprises. The moment the confirmation was sealed, cheers went up in the offices of those who have worked on the nomination for months as well as in the galleries of the Capitol.

     "We know that the conservative judicial philosophy that Judge Alito embraced as a federal appeals court judge for 15 years will serve as the cornerstone of his tenure on the high court," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, who worked to support the nomination.

     While Sekulow and other conservative leaders noted that there were no specific guarantees of how the new justice would rule, anti-abortion groups hailed the confirmation as a critical step to overturning the Roe decision.

     "Abortion lost today, abortion lost in the last two presidential elections, and abortion will continue to lose its death grip on the American people," said Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, an anti-abortion organization.

     Organizations supporting abortion rights agreed, warning that Alito could upend what O'Connor and other justices have declined to touch.

     "Core legal rights for women are in serious jeopardy," said Marcia Greenberger, co-president of the National Women's Law Center. "So much that we hold dear is now up for grabs--the right to choose, strong protections against sex discrimination, the power of Congress to protect the public in areas like family leave, and more."

     In his confirmation vote, Alito received the lowest level of support in modern history from senators in a president's opposing party. Last year, Roberts received 22 Democratic votes. And in 1991, Thomas received 11 Democratic votes despite a long, divisive hearing when he eventually was confirmed on a 52-48 vote.