Judge Samuel Alito- Good For The SCOTUS?

The time has come to get serious regarding Bush's newest U.S Supreme Court nominee, Judge Samuel Alito. There's enough bickering going on in the blogosphere and in Liberal/Conservative political circles to scare an angry elephant (no GOP pun intended). Instead of relying on non-scientific polls and rhetoric from our leaders, let's look at Alito's case-ruling background to decide if he is a good candidate or not. Many Liberals oppose Alito on the basis that, because Bush nominated him, he will vote to overturn Roe Vs. Wade. Other Liberals oppose him simply for being a Conservative. Conservatives are skeptically supporting him because he's a Conservative. I even read a story where an Oklahoma Evangelical said she supports him simply because most Democrats do not. She said, "If the Democrats don't like him, he's got to be good." Let's put all of this aside for a bit and see what kind of Judge Alito actually is. We'll look at some of his rulings to get a feel for how the guy works.

Big, Bad Abortion

Planned Parenthood vs. Casey (1991)- Dissenting with his colleagues, Judge Alito ruled that a woman married to a non-abusive husband should have to notify her spouse of her plans for an abortion before undergoing the procedure. Good: 0 Bad: 1

Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey vs. Farmer (2000)- Concurring with Planned Parenthood, Judge Alito ruled that a law banning partial-birth abortions is unconstitutional. Good: 1 Bad: 1

Constitutional Issues

Sheridan vs. Dupont (1996)- Judge Alito dissented with his colleagues in this case, arguing that the plaintiff needed to provide a substantial quantity of hard evidence to prove she was the victim of sexual harassment. Good: 2 Bad: 1

Bray vs. Marriott Hotels (1997)- Judge Alito dissented with his colleagues in this case, saying to prove racial discrimination, a Marriott manager needed to prove that every case of the company promoting others in her place was racially motivated. Good: 2 Bad: 2

Saxe vs. State College Area School District (2001)- Concurred with a majority opinion that the school district's policy of prohibiting verbal harassment based on sexual orientation and other categories violates the First Amendment. Good: 2 Bad: 3

Shore Regional High School Board of Education vs. P.S. (2004)- Judge Alito ruled to reinstate a lower judge's ruling that the school district's failure to protect their child from bullies justified the parents' placing the child in a different school. Good: 3 Bad: 3

Conclusion- What Can We Take From All Of This?

I think this is enough case studies to show that Alito is neither an Ideologue nor a strict Constructionist. He seems, based on these cases at least, to be a Conservative-leaning Moderate. What that suggests is that he tries to balance the law with his personal ideas of right and wrong as well as social standards of morality. These cases also prove that we can't form an opinion of his rulings based only on any one case, something that many of both sides of the aisle are guilty of. He was given a fair confirmation hearing when President Bush (I) nominated him to the U.S Third Circuit Court of Appeals. It's true that those who once supported him may choose not to do so now that he has 15 years of rulings to judge him on. Just the same, his rulings and qualifications prove he isn't an Ideologue. Both sides of the aisle should give him a fair hearing. That's all there is to it.

PS- I've Added To My Blogroll

I've always had a tradition of blogrolling interesting sites that I come across in the political blogosphere. Keeping with that tradition, I've added four new sites to my Liberal and Other political sections. They are In The Middle Of America, Leftist Grandpa, Irregular Joe and All Facts And Opinions. I hope you'll check them out as they are really great sites.