Washington – Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito recommended against appealing
to the high court a ruling that revived a Black Panther Party lawsuit
against the government.
Alito, working in the Justice Department at the time, argued that the
department could win the case in a lower court.
“None of the legal issues presented by this case seems to warrant
Supreme Court review,” Alito wrote on Nov. 19, 1981, while he was
working for the solicitor general’s office. The memo was among another
batch of Alito papers released Wednesday by the National Archives.
The Black Panthers’ lawsuit accused government officials of conspiring
against the militant group and its members for years. A federal judge
had thrown out the lawsuit, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia reversed that decision. The appeals court ordered
the judge to reconsider the case.
Alito noted that nothing in the trial court was “decided against the
government with finality.” And “even if the Supreme Court were to agree
with our arguments, it would not follow that dismissal of the complaint
would be the appropriate sanction,” he wrote.
The Supreme Court thought otherwise. The Justice Department went on to
appeal the case to the high court, which ordered the Black Panther
lawsuit thrown out.
Alito did note that he could see a reason to take the case to the
Supreme Court, considering its high-profile nature.
“This is not an ordinary lawsuit, and the issues may consequently take
on added significance,” Alito said. “While I am convinced that the
individual legal issues do not warrant the filing of a petition action,
I recognize that a decision to the contrary has something to recommend
it.” The Black Panther Party had sued several federal officials, saying
that since 1968 the directors of the CIA and the FBI, attorneys general,
Treasury secretaries, postmasters general, IRS commissioners and other
government officials had conspired to destroy the Black Panthers.
One of those sued was then-CIA director and soon-to-be-president George
H.W. Bush, father of the current president.
Alito worked for the solicitor general’s office in 1981-85, and also as
deputy assistant U.S. attorney general from 1985-87 before becoming a
federal prosecutor and judge. President Bush picked him for the Supreme
Court in October as the replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day
O’Connor.
Many of the documents released by the National Archives on Wednesday
simply indicate that Alito was copied in on internal Justice Department
memos, or are photocopies of decisions that were made by federal judges
while Alito was working for the department during the Reagan
administration.
The Archives said it found the documents in the files of former Justice
Department officials while processing Freedom of Information Act
requests.
Alito’s confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee begins
Jan. 9. Republican leaders are pushing for a Jan. 20 confirmation vote
in the full Senate.
