Good Choice

President Bush has nominated Judge Samuel Alito to be the next associate justice of the Supreme Court. Conservatives nationwide are applauding this pick, here are a few highlights of Alito's career from US News:

In 1997, Alito authored the majority opinion upholding a city's right to stage a holiday display that included a Nativity scene and a menorah because the city also included secular symbols and a banner emphasizing the importance of diversity. In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Alito was the sole dissenter on the Third Circuit, which struck a Pennsylvania law that required women seeking abortions to consult their husbands.

Also, he struck down a Pennsylvania school board "anti-harrassment" policy, saying There is no categorical 'harassment exception' to the First Amendment's free speech clause."

His Judicial Philosophy

As Senator Jim DeMint said “Judge Alito is one of the most respected judges in America. His constitutional credentials are unquestionable and his judicial philosophy is verifiable."

A quote from Alito himself "Most of the labels people use to talk about judges, and the way judges decide (cases) aren't too descriptive. ... Judges should be judges. They shouldn't be legislators, they shouldn't be administrators." (The Newark Star-Ledger May 2005)

He is a member in good standing of the Federalist Society, the influential group of conservative lawyers who advocate an originalist reading of the Constitution that sticks closely to text and the history of the writing of the Constitution. (msnbc.com)

The left is not happy. Here are a few choice quotes found on MSNBC.

"It is sad that the president felt he had to pick a nominee likely to divide America, instead of choosing a nominee in the mold of Sandra Day O'Connor," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. He said Alito "would make the court less diverse and far more conservative."

“The far right has now forced the president to choose a nominee that they think has views as extreme as their own,” Kennedy said. “There are many serious questions about whether Judge Alito is a mainstream nominee fit to fill the seat of Justice O'Connor."

Now the question remains, what will happen to him in the Senate? There are serious doubts he will be confirmed before they adjourn around Thanksgiving.