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View Full Version : Who the hell is Samuel Alito?



Good Doctor HST
11-01-2005, 08:28 AM
Information from Wikipedia.com

Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. (born April 1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_1), 1950 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950)) is a judge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge) on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_Third_Circu it). On October 31 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_31), 2005 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005), President (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States) George W. Bush (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush) nominated him to the position of Associate Justice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associate_Justice_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_Unit ed_States) of the United States Supreme Court (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States), to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Day_O%27Connor).


Personal Life

Alito was born in Trenton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trenton%2C_New_Jersey), New Jersey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey) to Samuel Alito Sr., an Italian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_people) immigrant, and Rose Alito. He attended Steinert High School in Hamilton, New Jersey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton%2C_New_Jersey). He graduated from Princeton University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princeton_University) with an A.B. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_of_Arts) in 1972, and went to Yale Law School (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_Law_School), where he served as editor on the Yale Law Journal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_Law_Journal) and earned a J.D. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juris_Doctor) in 1975 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975). Alito's father, who is now deceased, was the director of the New Jersey Office of Legislative Services from 1952 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952) to 1984 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984). Alito's sister, Rosemary, is regarded as one of New Jersey's top employment lawyers.

In 1972 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972), during the Vietnam War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War), Alito received a commission in the Army Reserves (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Reserve). He was honorably discharged (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_discharge) as a Captain.

Alito and his wife, Martha, live in West Caldwell, New Jersey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Caldwell%2C_New_Jersey); they have two children: a son, Philip, who is an undergraduate at the University of Virginia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Virginia), and a daughter, Laura, who is in high school.

According to the Washington Post, Judge Alito is known as "a studious, diligent, scholarly judge with a first-rate mind and a deadpan sense of humor, a neutral arbiter who does not let personal beliefs affect his legal judgments." [1] (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/31/AR2005103101986.html)

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Career


1977 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977) - Law clerk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_clerk) for Leonard I. Garth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_I._Garth) of the Third Circuit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_Third_Circu it).
1977 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977) - 1981 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981) - Assistant United States Attorney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney), District of New Jersey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey).
1981 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981) - 1985 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985) - Assistant to Solicitor General (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Solicitor_General) Rex E. Lee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_E._Lee).
1985 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985) - 1987 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987) - Deputy Assistant to Attorney General (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney_General) Edwin Meese (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Meese).
1987 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987) - 1990 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990) - United States Attorney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney) for the District of New Jersey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey).
1990 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990) - 2005 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005) - Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_Third_Circu it)
2002 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002) - 2005 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005) - Adjunct Professor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjunct_Professor) of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seton_Hall) in Newark, New Jersey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newark%2C_New_Jersey).
Alito argued twelve cases before the Supreme Court for the federal government during his tenure as assistant to the Solicitor General. While serving as an attorney for New Jersey, he prosecuted many cases that involved drug trafficking and organized crime. [2] (http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2005/oct/31/103107579.html)

Alito was nominated by George H. W. Bush (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._W._Bush) on February 20 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_20), 1990 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990) to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_Third_Circu it). Alito was rated by the American Bar Association (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Bar_Association) as “Well Qualified” at the time of his nomination. He was confirmed unanimously by voice vote (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_vote) in the Senate on April 27 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_27), 1990 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990) [3] (http://www.confirmthem.com/?p=1762), with Democratic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat) Senator (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate) Ted Kennedy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kennedy) commenting at the time that Alito had a "very distinguished record." His chambers are in Newark, New Jersey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newark%2C_New_Jersey).

As adjunct professor at Seton Hall University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seton_Hall_University) School of Law, Alito has taught courses in Constitutional Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_Law) and an original course on terrorism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism) and civil liberties (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_liberties). In 1995, Judge Alito was presented with that law school’s Saint Thomas More (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_More) Medal, "in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of law." [4] (http://law.shu.edu/samuel_alito.htm)

He is known for his conservative (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatism) judicial views. In one of his most well-known opinions, he dissented in a 2-1 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_Parenthood_v._Casey) in 1991 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991). In that case, he voted to uphold a Pennsylvania law that required women to inform their husbands before having an abortion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion), noting that the law allowed certain exceptions, such as an abusive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abuse) spouse. The Supreme Court struck down the law in 1992 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992). Lawrence Lustberg, a criminal defense attorney and friend of Alito, says that he is "very prosecutorial from the bench. He has looked to be creative in his conservatism, which is, I think, as much a Rehnquist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rehnquist) as a Scalia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonin_Scalia) trait." [5] (http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/050719/19alito.htm)

Good Doctor HST
11-01-2005, 08:30 AM
And now that I've had some time to read and think about things, I believe Alito was Bush's pick all along. Harriet Miers was thrown in just to cause a stir. It's going to be hard to shoot down 2 Justice selections.

Gold9472
11-01-2005, 09:07 AM
He was also a Draft Dodger (http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/002449.html)