Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. has been making the rounds this week, meeting one-by-one with senators who will consider his nomination to succeed Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court.
The appelate judge has been warmly embraced by the president’s most conservative supporters, while many senators have withheld judgment, eager to know more about his judicial inclinations. O’Connor has been a quintessential centrist on the court and moderate lawmakers are anxious that her successor not wrench the panel too far right on issues involving privacy, executive power and the separation of church and state.
This past week, Alito offered several key senators assurances right out of the playbook of the new chief justice, John Roberts, smoothly expressing his “respect for precedents” – code words to say he isn’t on a crusade to overturn Roe vs. Wade, the 1972 abortion rights decision that looms large in any judicial debate.
O’Connor has voted to protect Roe vs. Wade, andduring his confirmation process Roberts eased moderates’ concerns by referring to the decision as “settled law.” In addition, he voiced his belief in a constitutional right to privacy that is an underpinning for abortion rights.
Sens. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, both asked Alito about the subject when they met this past week and got the Roberts treatment.
Alito “basically said … that Roe was precedent on which people – a lot of people – relied, and [has] been precedent now for decades and therefore deserved great respect,” Lieberman said. Collins said Alito assured her that “he has tremendous respect for precedent and that his approach is to not overturn cases due to a disagreement with how they were originally decided.”
Many conservatives would like to see Roe overturned and have been cheered by an important appellate dissent in which Alito wrote that women should be required to tell their husbands when seeking abortions.
Some pro-life Republicans have said they’re not unnerved by Alito’s comments because they believe he’ll base his future decisions on the Constitution. “I think pro- choice Republicans are feeling more and more comfortable that whatever stand he takes on the Roe issue will be driven by the law, not ideology,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told the Washington Post.
Lieberman, Collins and 12 other senators, including Colorado’s Ken Salazar, make up the Gang of 14, which created a compromise to steer clear of filibusters in favor of up- or-down votes for acceptable judicial nominees.
“At this point, I see no basis for invoking ‘extraordinary circumstances’ and for anyone to mount a filibuster,” Collins said. Judiciary Committee hearings that begin Jan. 9 will likely settle Alito’s nomination, and it looks like he made progress this week in his sensible remarks to Lieberman and Collins.
