January 12, 2006
Alito Has Been Evasive Enough to be Confirmed
ABC News: Alito Appears Headed for Confirmation
Samuel Alito coasted toward confirmation as the 110th Supreme Court justice Thursday, ending 18 grueling hours of Senate interrogation with Democrats showing little appetite for a last-ditch filibuster attempt on the Senate floor.
From the little bit I’ve seen, this really has been a very boring confirmation. At least Roberts made a concerted effort to show the Senate that he was far, far above them. For the most part, here’s what I’ve seen from Alito:
Senator: What do you think about [insert constitutional question here]?
Alito: Well, [insert constitutional question here] is a very tricky question, from a constitutional standpoint. There are a lot of hard issues to be worked out. The precedent in the area gives us some hints on how to rule, but beyond that, I plan to approach the issue with an open mind.
Senator: Do you have any opinion on [constitutional issue] at this time?
Alito: I can’t offer any indication on how I might think about [constitutional issue] without knowing the specific facts of the case, and wouldn’t be able to offer my own opinion at this time.
Senator: What about [Attorney General] v. [Plaintiff]? Do you agree with the way the court decided in that case?
Alito: Well, the court made a decision in that case based upon the facts of that case and the relevant precedent involved. As a justice, I would make sure that I made decisions based upon the facts of the case and the relevant precedents involved.
I like watching congressional debates on C-SPAN, and that’s darn close to the most boring thing you may ever find on television. Even I can’t stomach these confirmation hearings. I think Alito should be given a Purple Heart simply for sitting through it for three days (as his wife left the room crying) without beating Teddy Kennedy to a pulp.
It’s disappointing that confirmation hearings have become political events. There are serious issues to be discussed when confirming a Supreme Court justice, but the system has become so politicized that no serious discussion can be had. Every issue must be skirted so that nobody has a single clear idea what the nominee actually thinks. The longer we avoid this debate on nominees, the longer we avoid this debate in the general public, and it’s a debate we need to have.
Below The Beltway linked with Avoiding The Real Debate
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Avoiding The Real Debate
Samuel Alito’s time before the Senate Judiciary Comittee has come to an end, and as both CNN and ABC recognize, it seems clear that he will be confirmed when the full Senate votes at the end of the month. The Washington Post made this observation ……
After 3 days of the same questions (speeches), over, and over, and over, and over, the Alito hearings boiled down to two questions - the first one and one of the last ones.
Sen. Specter asked him immediately on day one about his view of stare decisis. Alito left no question that he would rather die a horrible death than read the constitution as written and form an opinion. I’m paraphrasing, but: “There’s no such thing as super-precedent or super-duper-precedent, but it would require an act of God to make me read the law instead of relying on prior precedent” is close enough to what he said to make the point.
Fast forward three days. Sen. Schumer asks what amounts to the second question (with three days of speeches intervening). Again, paraphrasing: “Does the commerce clause mean the Federal government owns your sorry butt, or does it mean we can only regulate commerce that actually crosses state lines?” He, of course, left the “as the plain English reading of the Constitution would suggest” part out of the question.
Alito: I am incapable of forming my own opinion, so I would rely on the precedent that the former is correct.
Schumer: Good. I’m glad you feel that Congress is all-powerful, subject only to special interests. But, I’m still PO’d that you think the President has that same power over the lives of the world’s uneducated masses.
I may not have gotten all the quotes correct, but you get the idea.
The real question is whether he believes that, or whether he’s saying it to get himself confirmed…
Yet another reason I rather would have seen Janice Rogers Brown in that seat. She may not get herself confirmed, but she’s going to force the debate…