As of this past Saturday, Associate Justice Samuel Alito has been on the Supreme Court for twenty years. He joined the Court on January 31, 2006.
On October 31, 2005, President George W. Bush nominated then-Judge Samuel Alito to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor after the withdrawal of White House Counsel Harriet Miers' nomination. The next day, I had this op-ed in the Wall Street Journal profiling the nominee.
Judge Alito is a supremely qualified nominee who should (though he may not) win a quick and easy confirmation. Some Senate Democrats will find reasons to oppose him, but he once held their support. He was confirmed unanimously by a Democratic Senate in 1990 only two months after he was first nominated by George H.W. Bush.
There being no question about Judge Alito's accomplishments and credentials, the debate over this nomination will focus squarely on his jurisprudence. Already at least one Democratic aide reportedly called Judge Alito a "right-wing wacko." Such epithets grossly distort his record. He is not a dogmatic conservative; his record shows a man more interested in getting the law right and faithfully applying applicable precedents than scoring rhetorical points or advancing an ideological agenda. As he commented in an interview earlier this year, "Judges should be judges. They shouldn't be legislators, they shouldn't be administrators."
Judge Alito is most often compared to Antonin Scalia. Years ago one journalist even dubbed him "Scalito," and the name stuck. While the two share an ethnic heritage and a constitutionalist judicial philosophy, it would be easy to overstate the comparison. Judge Alito's opinions are rarely adorned with zingers or verbal barbs at his colleagues. What he may lack in rhetorical flair, however, he more than makes up for with analytical rigor. Whereas Justice Scalia's caustic wit and penchant for tweaking his colleagues (particularly Justice O'Connor) might have cost him in building court majorities, Judge Alito's subtle charm and cooler approach could make him a powerful intellectual force on the court.
