WASHINGTON (ABP) — Differences over abortion rights, discrimination and religious freedom contributed to a Senate panel's fractious party-line vote Jan. 24 on the confirmation of President Bush's nominee for a crucial seat on the Supreme Court.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-8 to recommend the nomination of Samuel Alito for approval by the full Senate. All of the committee's majority Republicans supported the nomination, while all of its Democrats opposed Alito.
“This is a nomination that threatens the fundamental rights and liberties of all Americans — for now, and for generations to come,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the committee's ranking minority member.
But Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.), the chairman, said Alito had reached “achievements of the highest order” and had satisfied his questions successfully.
Alito, currently a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, has been tapped by Bush to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. O'Connor has proved to be a crucial vote on the closely divided court. In particular, she has regularly voted to uphold the core of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. She also has generally supported a strong view of church-state separation.
Alito, however, is widely expected to approach such questions differently.
During his confirmation hearings before the committee Jan. 9-13, Alito assiduously avoided answers that might make clear how he would vote on controversial issues were they to come before him on the high court. However, he also declined to endorse the Roe decision as “settled law” or distance himself significantly from statements he made in the past setting forth anti-abortion views and views in opposition to strong church-state separation.
The party-line vote was a marked contrast to the recent confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts, who replaced the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist in September. Roberts — named to replace a more reliably conservative justice — passed the committee on a bipartisan 13-5 vote, and the full Senate on a 78-22 margin.
But Democrats on the committee said they could not vote for Alito because he had not proven to them that he is in what they believe to be the mainstream of American legal thought.
The nominee's answers on abortion rights during his confirmation hearings “said to me that Judge Alito probably would not uphold Roe, given the chance,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), explaining her “no” vote.
But Specter, an abortion-rights supporter, said he thought Alito's answers on his commitment to supporting stability in the law and legal precedents had been no less satisfactory than those provided by Roberts. “I think [Alito's] statements about Roe as settled law were very, very similar to what Chief Justice Roberts said,” Specter said.
Other Republicans on the committee who oppose abortion rights said they didn't know how Alito would vote if confronted with abortion rights, but they supported him anyway because they believed he would not be a “judicial activist” who would attempt to legislate from the bench.
“I don't know how either of them will rule on Roe v. Wade,” said Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), a staunch abortion opponent, speaking about Roberts and Alito. “I wish I did know.”
But other abortion-rights opponents had a clearer view of how they thought Alito would rule. The committee's vote came just one day after thousands of anti-abortion activists demonstrated in Washington to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of the Roe decision, which was handed down in January, 1973.
“We must support the confirmation of Judge Alito and other jurists who will support a strict constructionist view of the law and make it possible once and for all to end Roe v. Wade,” Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), told participants at the March for Life Jan. 23.
After the Judiciary Committee vote, reporters asked Specter about Feinstein's assessment that, “if one is pro-choice in this day and age, and in this structure, one can't vote for Judge Alito.”
Specter said he thinks “that it's unwise to have a litmus test — to have a single issue as determinative” in Supreme Court nominations. “There's a lot more to being on the Supreme Court than any one single issue,” he said.
The full Senate is scheduled to begin debate on Alito Jan. 25. His confirmation is expected to pass the chamber, where Republicans hold a 55-45 majority over Democrats and a left-leaning independent.
Specter predicted a vote “by the end of the week,” but debate may drag on into the next week, cutting into President Bush's State of the Union Address, scheduled for Jan. 31.
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