Untitled Document
“President Bush will nominate 3rd Circuit Appeals Court Judge
Samuel Alito for the U.S. Supreme Court.” Who is Samuel Alito?
ALITO WOULD OVERTURN ROE V. WADE: In his dissenting opinion
in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Alito concurred with the majority in supporting
the restrictive abortion-related measures passed by the Pennsylvania legislature
in the late 1980’s. Alito went further, however, saying the majority was
wrong to strike down a requirement that women notify their spouses before having
an abortion. The Supreme Court later rejected Alito’s view, voting to
reaffirm Roe v. Wade. [Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey,
1991]
ALITO WOULD ALLOW RACE-BASED DISCRIMINATION: Alito dissented
from a decision in favor of a Marriott Hotel manager who said she had been discriminated
against on the basis of race. The majority explained that Alito would have protected
racist employers by “immuniz[ing] an employer from the reach of Title
VII if the employer’s belief that it had selected the ‘best’
candidate was the result of conscious racial bias.” [Bray v. Marriott
Hotels, 1997]
ALITO WOULD ALLOW DISABILITY-BASED DISCRIMINATION: In Nathanson
v. Medical College of Pennsylvania, the majority said the standard for proving
disability-based discrimination articulated in Alito’s dissent was so
restrictive that “few if any…cases would survive summary judgment.”
[Nathanson v. Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1991]
ALITO WOULD STRIKE DOWN THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT:
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) “guarantees most workers up to
12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a loved one.” The 2003 Supreme Court
ruling upholding FMLA [Nevada v. Hibbs, 2003] essentially reversed a 2000 decision
by Alito which found that Congress exceeded its power in passing the law. [Chittister
v. Department of Community and Economic Development, 2000]
ALITO SUPPORTS UNAUTHORIZED STRIP SEARCHES: In Doe v. Groody,
Alito agued that police officers had not violated constitutional rights when
they strip searched a mother and her ten-year-old daughter while carrying out
a search warrant that authorized only the search of a man and his home. [Doe
v. Groody, 2004]
ALITO HOSTILE TOWARD IMMIGRANTS: In two cases involving the
deportation of immigrants, the majority twice noted Alito’s disregard
of settled law. In Dia v. Ashcroft, the majority opinion states that Alito’s
dissent “guts the statutory standard” and “ignores our precedent.”
In Ki Se Lee v. Ashcroft, the majority stated Alito’s opinion contradicted
“well-recognized rules of statutory construction.” [Dia v. Ashcroft,
2003; Ki Se Lee v. Ashcroft, 2004]