Alito rejected abortion as a right – Nation/Politics – The Washington Times, America’s Newspaper
Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., President Bush’s Supreme Court nominee, wrote that “the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion” in a 1985 document obtained by The Washington Times.
“I personally believe very strongly” in this legal position, Mr. Alito wrote on his application to become deputy assistant to Attorney General Edwin I. Meese III.
The document, which is likely to inflame liberals who oppose Judge Alito’s nomination to the Supreme Court, is among many that the White House will release today from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
Alito ‘Respects’ Roe V. Wade
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Democrat, said Alito told him the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision establishing abortion rights “was precedent on which people, a lot of people, relied, and had been precedent now for decades and therefore deserved great respect.”
Also from that story.
“He assured me [Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)] 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,” she said.
Another abortion-related insight on Samuel Alito
Here’s a possible red flag for those who think that Alito might be the key to overturning Roe v. Wade
Senators Praise Nominee’s Candor
On the issue of privacy, the legal underpinning for the Roe v. Wade abortion-rights ruling, [Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.)] said: “He satisfied me that he recognized this to be one of the unenumerated rights in the Constitution, and he led me to believe that he felt that it was an established right.”
A point to remember
I’m just now seeing this.
Well, appellate judges are not obligated to follow the precedent of the Supreme Court. They take an oath only to uphold the Constitution. There’s no oath, no rule, no nothing [that mandates they must follow precedent].
It’s from the pre-confirmation hype about Judge Roberts, but it makes a point that too many folks forget. Justices only take an oath to the Constitution. There is no mandate they follow precedence.
The rest of the transcript is just funny. I wish there had been audio.
The jury is still out on Alito’s “conservatism”
Note to Conservative groups: This is why you should never jump out the same day and in support of the President’s position with out letting the dust clear.
While liberal special interest groups are castigating President Bush’s latest Supreme Court nominee as a far-right extremist, details are beginning to emerge that may indicate otherwise.
Read more at FPN’s Website