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Judges: Alito unlikely to overturn Roe
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-03 20:48
Judges who have served with Samuel Alito say he's unquestionably a
conservative who would push the Supreme Court to the right, likely favoring new
abortion restrictions that retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor would not.
Five current or former judges on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals interviewed by The Associated Press described Alito as
thoughtful, intelligent and fair. They said he has great respect for
precedent-setting decisions and none of them offered that he would be likely to
vote to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.
O'Connor, whom Alito was tapped to replace by President Bush, has provided
the fifth vote on a closely divided court to limit government power to restrict
abortions.
"There's no question he's going to move the Supreme Court to the right
because he is conservative," said former Judge Timothy Lewis, an appointee of
the first President Bush who typically voted with liberal members when he served
on the 3rd Circuit from 1992 to 1999.
"But in tens of thousands of cases that came before us, he faithfully showed
a deference and deep respect for precedent," Lewis said. "From private caucus
meetings and on the bench, I know he is an intellectually honest man and doesn't
have personal predilections to foist upon the American people."
Senior Judge Leonard Garth, a Nixon appointee for whom Alito served as law
clerk from 1976-77 before they became colleagues in 1990, said Alito supports
tighter abortion restrictions, such as parental and spousal consent, but would
stop there.
"Sam is not going to overturn Roe v. Wade," said Garth, a moderate
conservative who signed on to a 2000 abortion-rights decision involving a
procedure foes call "partial-birth" abortion that Alito criticized as too
expansive.
The judges spoke in separate interviews. They disputed assertions by both
liberal and conservative interest groups that the former Reagan administration
lawyer is a right-wing ideologue in the mold of Justice Antonin Scalia.
Supporters and detractors sometimes refer to Alito as "Scalito."
Senior Judge Edward Becker, who has served with Alito for 15 years, called
the moniker misleading. Becker described Alito as much more reserved than the
caustic and sometimes divisive Scalia, who often seeks to dominate questioning
from the bench.
"I found him to be very open-minded," Becker said. "He's very principled,
very analytical, never decides more than he has to in a case. He does believe in
judicial restraint in the way he writes opinions, with no ideological
overtones."
One area in which Alito and Scalia are similar is their broad interpretation
of free speech rights.
Scalia, for instance, has disappointed conservatives by voting to uphold
flag-burning. Alito has written opinions that outlawed a school anti-harassment
policy barring demeaning comments about race, religion or gender as overly
broad; and struck down a state law barring companies from buying alcohol ads in
college newspapers.
"He's very sympathetic to First Amendment rights," Becker said.
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