Senate confirms Alito to high court

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060131/..._alito_vote_dc



6 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A sharply divided U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, backing a second conservative nominated by President George W. Bush in his effort to move the nation's highest court to the right.

The near party-line vote to replace the more moderate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor with Alito, a federal appeals judge since 1990, came four months after the Senate approved Bush's first Supreme Court nominee, John Roberts, as U.S. chief justice.

Alito is expected to align himself with the court's solidly conservative bloc and could affect the outcome of votes on key social issues such as abortion and civil rights.