As senators prepare for the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, local interest groups are drawing battle lines based on Alito’s track record on abortion and other contentious social issues.
Alito, nominated by President George W. Bush to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, has acquired a reputation for conservatism in his 15 years as a judge on the third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Pro-choice activists are pointing to the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey case, in which the appeals court struck down a Pennsylvania law requiring women to tell their husbands before having an abortion, as a key example of Alito’s conservatism. Alito was the sole dissenter in the ruling.
Alyson Potts, a spokeswoman for the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said the case shows Alito’s history of disrespect for women’s rights.
“He has a long track record of ruling on cases in a way that doesn’t uphold the rights of women,” Potts said.
PPL is urging the U.S. Senate to oppose Alito’s confirmation in part because of the justice he would replace. O’Connor has been a frequent swing vote on the high court, and if Alito is confirmed, he would shift the court to the right, Potts said.
“Judge Alito’s confirmation would radically transform the Supreme Court,” she said. “Every senator that supports the constitutional freedoms that we should expect … should reject the nominee.”
Melissa Kogut, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, agreed that Alito has “a record of opposing the right to choose” and said the Senate should vote against his confirmation.
“A shift in the court by even one justice could have a devastating effect on how the court overall rules [on abortion],” Kogut said.
NARAL will encourage people to write letters to their senators, urging them to oppose Alito, Kogut said, but noted that with a Republican majority in the Senate, it will be an uphill battle.
“The numbers are not really in our favor, unfortunately,” Kogut said. “We’re going to work hard to demonstrate that the public does not want to see Roe v. Wade overturned.”
But while pro-choice activists have been quick to oppose Alito and argue that his views on abortion are too far to the right, on the other side of the debate, pro-life groups are heaping praise on Alito’s conservative credentials.
Evelyn Reilly, director of public policy for the Massachusetts Family Institute, said Alito contrasts favorably with Bush’s previous Supreme Court nominee, Harriet Miers, who withdrew her nomination after harsh criticism of her qualifications by conservatives and liberals alike.
“Alito is more qualified and more of a known quantity,” Reilly said. “From what we know of him so far, he seems excellent. He seems to be quite conservative.”
Reilly said MFI will tell its members to contact their legislators in support of Alito, but acknowledged that the two senators from Massachusetts, Democrats Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, will be slow to support the new nominee.
“Our senators are pretty immovable on the subject, so we really don’t bother trying to get people to weigh in,” she said.
While many praise Alito for being representative of a conservative ideology, Matthew Wylie, executive director of the Massachusetts Republican Party, argued that Alito will observe the Constitution fairly and pay attention to legal precedents.
“We want a judge who is not going to legislate from the bench and who is committed to the rule of law, and I think that’s what we have in Judge Alito,” Wylie said. “We applaud the president for his nomination.”
But according to Boston University law professor Jack Beermann, politics has always played a role in the confirmation of Supreme Court nominees and will be a factor this time around, too.
“The grounds [for confirmation] have always been political,” Beermann said. “The objections to people like Thurgood Marshall were political.”
But Beermann stressed that there is nothing wrong with senators confirming a nominee based on political viewpoints.
“The president’s appointing based on politics,” he said. “The Senate should confirm based on politics.”
Although some Senate Democrats have threatened to filibuster Alito’s nomination, Beermann predicted that would not happen, saying most people do not view Alito’s opinions as being outside the mainstream.
“You can’t question his qualifications,” Beermann said. “Unless something comes out that’s evidence that he’s more extreme than what the record shows, I think he will be confirmed.”
The confirmation process may be contentious, Beerman said, because it is difficult to predict how Alito will rule after taking his place on the Supreme Court, with no higher court to oversee his rulings.
“At the Supreme Court, it’s a whole new ballgame,” he said. “It’s very hard to tell how [a justice will rule].”
In addition, Beermann noted, because Alito is relatively young for a Supreme Court justice — 55 years old — and the recently-confirmed Chief Justice John Roberts is only 50, Alito could affect the Supreme Court’s decisions for many years.
“These guys [Roberts and Alito] could both be on the court for 30 years, and that’s a long time to have influence,” Beermann said.
And with controversial issues like abortion at the forefront of national debate in recent years, the confirmation process probably will not be as smooth as it was for some past nominees, Beermann said.
“It could be a big fight,” he said.
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