Washington – Colorado Senator Ken Salazar expressed “grave concern” about Judge Samuel Alito today after meeting with the Supreme Court nominee, saying he fears Alito could swing the court to the far right.
“I do not yet know whether I will be able to support his confirmation,” said Salazar, a Democrat, who met with Alito for about an hour.
Salazar is a member of the “Gang of 14,” a group of seven Republicans and Democrats who united to protect the Senate’s right to filibuster judicial nominees. The Gang decided it would only allow filibusters under “extraordinary circumstances.”
Salazar, clad in a cowboy hat and bolo tie as he stood in front of a bank of cameras, said he did not at this point foresee himself participating in a filibuster.
“I have never participated in one. I don’t want to participate in one,” Salazar said.
The senator and the judge talked about the 1985 memorandum Alito wrote as he tried to get promoted in the Justice Department. Salazar asked Alito about two paragraphs, one stating that he was proud to argue that “racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to abortion.”
The other paragraph dealt with Alito’s disagreement with the Warren Court, which Salazar said referred to Alito’s concerns that the court had gone too far in extending rights to criminal defendants, and issues dealing with separation of church and state.
“I’m troubled when I look at the memo and the fact that I don’t think that his views have changed at all frankly in the last 20 years,” Salazar said.
Salazar said he and Alito talked about the recent Supreme Court decision that allowed some racial preferences at the University of Michigan. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was the swing vote in that 5-4 decision. Asked what he didn’t hear from Alito that he wanted to hear, Salazar said:
“On the issue of diversity and Affirmative Action that he would have said the decision which was the decision of the majority in the Supreme Court is precedent. I recognize stari decisis for what it is and that will be what will guide me on the Supreme Court. I did not hear that from him,” Salazar said.
He also asked Alito about his dissenting opinion in an abortion case, where Alito wrote that husbands should know before a woman can have an abortion. The Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood v. Casey later struck down the spousal-notification provision that Alito had wanted to uphold.
“I was not satisfied with (Alito’s) response to the spousal notification issue,” during questioning, Salazar said.
Alito arrived promptly for the morning meeting, dressed in a blue suit with a blue and red striped tie. Before the private meeting, he and Salazar chatted briefly in Salazar’s office while cameras clicked. Salazar jokingly asked whether Alito – who has met with about 70 senators – whether he could assign names to faces on a quiz.
“I’d get a passing grade,” Alito said.
