Samuel Alito

On Jan. 31, 2006, Judge Samuel J. Alito was sworn in as an associate justice of the Supreme Court.

Alito’s record has suggested that he will not support issues of fairness for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. The 58 to 42 Senate vote confirming Alito’s nomination will be a scoring criterion on the 2006 Human Rights Campaign Congressional Scorecard, rating members of Congress on key votes for GLBT Americans.

The Alito Record - Negatives for Gay and Transgender Americans

• Wrote that school district's anti-harassment policy (including sexual orientation) violated freedom of speech.
• Helped to draft, and then defended, a memorandum stating that employers could, under then-applicable disability law, fire HIV-positive employees "because of a fear of contagion, whether reasonable or not." The Supreme Court rejected this argument by a vote of 7-2

The Alito Record - Cases of Interest for Gay and Transgender Americans

• Upheld administrative law judge (this is an administrative fact-finder) conclusion that a public school was not providing a free and appropriate education to a boy who was teased and abused and called "faggot" at his local school. Notable-the case isn't about whether someone is actually gay-just that he was teased to the point of not being able to function at school. It's very rare to reverse an ALJ. You have to find that the ALJ was listening to his neighbor's dog, and not the evidence.
• Ruled that a family with one HIV+ child could adopt an HIV- child, and that this did not run afoul of the ADA's "direct threat" exception.

The Alito Record - Negatives Concerning Congress' Power

• Ruled that Congress did not have power to enable people to sue states under Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Shows very narrow reading both of Commerce Clause and 14th Amendment Section 5 enforcement power (bad for Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and Hate Crimes Legislation). Supreme Court disagreed in the Hibbs case, with Rehnquist writing the majority opinion joined by O'Connor (disagreeing with Alito).

What the Right Wing Is Saying About the Alito Record

• Alito was on everyone's short list when O'Connor retired.
• After the Roberts Confirmation, Concerned Women for America expressed hope that Alito would be the next nominee: "Alito and Luttig have always been at the top of our list," said CWFA counsel Jan LaRue. (9/26/05)
  When Miers was nominated, and the right wing balked, they named Alito as the judge they would have preferred.
• Pat Buchanan: "In choosing Miers, the president passed over outstanding judges and proven constitutionalists like .... Sam Alito."
• Jay Nordlinger, National Review: "There were so many names in the air: Luttig, Wilkinson, Alito....but....come on: Harriet Miers?"
• William Kristol: "I expected President Bush to nominate...someone like...Samuel Alito."
• People and groups opposed to Miers included: Republican National Coalition for Life, Concerned Women for America, Pat Buchanan, Judge Robert Bork, and Phyllis Schlafly. Family Research Council urged caution and did not support the nomination.

Right Wing End-Zone Dance After Alito Nomination

• Jan LaRue (CWFA): "Alito is an outstanding choice." "Judge Alito has always been one of our top choices for the Supreme Court."
• Gary Bauer calls the nomination of Samuel Alito "a grand slam home run."
• William Kristol: "An impressive pick."
• Jay Sekulow (who runs Pat Robertson's legal organization): Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice who had a "smile from ear to ear" to discuss the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. Mr. Sekulow welcomed the nomination calling it a "grand slam." "This is the strongest nomination the President could have put forward."

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