WASHINGTON - President Bush, stung by the collapse of his previous choice, nominated veteran judge Samuel Alito on Monday in a bid to reshape the Supreme Court and mollify his conservative allies. Ready-to-rumble Democrats warned that Alito may be an extremist who would curb abortion rights.

 

 

"Judge Alito .... has more prior judicial experience than any Supreme Court nominee in more than 70 years," Bush said, drawing an unspoken contrast to his recent choice, Harriet Miers.Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Penn., a supporter of abortion rights, said that Alito's views "will be among one of the first items Judge Alito and I will discuss."

 

Unlike Miers' nomination, which was derailed Thursday by Bush's conservative allies, Alito faces vocal opposition from Democrats.

 

"The Senate needs to find out if the man replacing Miers is too radical for the American people," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada. He chided Bush for not nominating the first Hispanic to the court.

 

"President Bush would leave the Supreme Court looking less like America and more like an old boys club," Reid said.

 

So consistently conservative, Alito has been dubbed "Scalito" or "Scalia-lite" by some lawyers because his judicial philosophy invites comparisons to conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. But while Scalia is outspoken and is known to badger lawyers, Alito is polite, reserved and even-tempered.

 

Given solid Republican support in the Senate where the GOP controls 55 of the 100 seats Democrats would have to filibuster to block Alito's confirmation, a tactic that comes with political risks. Conservatives who denounced Miers as an unqualified crony quickly praised Alito.

 

The nomination of Alito, a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals since 1990, is one step in Bush's political recovery plan as he tries to regain his footing after a cascade of troubles rocked his presidency.

 

Bush's approval rating in the polls has tumbled to the lowest point of his presidency and Americans are unhappy about high energy prices, the costly war in Iraq and economic doubts. Bush also has been hit by a criminal investigation that reached into the office of Vice President Dick Cheney and led to the indictment of I. Lewis Libby, the vice president's chief of staff, on perjury and other charges in the CIA leak investigation.

 

"The Supreme Court is an institution I have long held in reverence," said the bespectacled judge, a former prosecutor and government attorney who has argued 12 cases before the Supreme Court. "During my 29 years as a public servant, I've had an opportunity to view the Supreme Court from a variety of perspectives."

 

Miers had never been a judge.

 

Praised by Democrats when confirmed for the appeals court 15 years ago, Alito has staked out positions supporting restrictions on abortion, such as parental and spousal notification. If confirmed by the Senate, Alito would replace retiring justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a decisive swing vote in a host of affirmative action, abortion, campaign finance, discrimination and death penalty cases.

 

Alito favors more restrictions on abortion rights than either the Supreme Court has allowed or O'Connor has supported, based on a 1992 case in which he supported spousal notification.

 

Bush called for confirmation by year's end. Frist signaled uncertainty on that, saying, "If it's possible to act," he would call for a vote.

 

Wasting no time, Alito went to the Capitol shortly after the announcement to meet Senate leaders. Accompanied by two of his children and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Alito paused first to pay his respects at the coffin of the late civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks in the Capitol rotunda.

 

Frist, a fellow Princeton graduate, read from a school publication a prediction that Alito would eventually "warm a seat" on the Supreme Court. "That was a college joke," Alito said with a grin. "I think my real ambition at the time was to be commissioner of baseball. Of course, I never dreamed that this day would arrive."

 

 

 

Specter said he would not ask Alito directly about whether he would overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion rights ruling.

 

"There is a lot more to do with a woman's right to choose than how you feel about it personally," he said. Specter cited adherence to legal precedent in view of a series of rulings over 30 years upholding abortion rights.

 

Conservatives welcomed the pick.

 

"At least now the president is having a battle with his political opponents and not with his friends," said Gary Bauer, a conservative activist who challenged Miers' nomination.

 

Alito signaled his alliance with Daly and other conservatives, speaking of the "limited role the courts play in our constitutional system."

 

Abortion-rights activists denounced the pick. "Now, the gauntlet has been, I think, thrown down," said Kat Michelman, past president of NARAL-Pro-Choice American.

 

Miers bowed out last Thursday after three weeks of bruising criticism from members of Bush's own party who argued that the Texas lawyer and loyal Bush confidant had thin credentials on constitutional law and no proven record as a judicial conservative.

 

Senior administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the deliberations, said Alito was virtually certain from the start to get the nod from the moment Miers backed out. The 55-year-old Italian-American jurist was Bush's favorite choice of the judges in the last set of deliberations but he settled instead on someone outside what he calls the "judicial monastery," the officials said.

 

Alito, a jurist from New Jersey, has been a strong conservative voice on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals since Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, seated him there in 1990.

 

In the early 1990s, Alito was the lone dissenter in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a case in which the 3rd Circuit struck down a Pennsylvania law that included a provision requiring women seeking abortions to notify their spouses.

 

"The Pennsylvania legislature could have rationally believed that some married women are initially inclined to obtain an abortion without their husbands' knowledge because of perceived problems such as economic constraints, future plans or the husbands' previously expressed opposition that may be obviated by discussion prior to the abortion," Alito wrote.

 

The case ended up at the Supreme Court where the justices, in a 6-3 decision struck down the spousal notification provision of the law. The late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist cited Alito's reasoning in his own dissent.

 

Alito, who grew up in Trenton, N.J., has a resume filled with stepping stones to the high court. He was educated at Princeton University and earned a law degree from Yale University, the president's alma mater.

 

___ AP White House reporter Deb Riechmann and AP Special Correspondent David Espo contributed to this report.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/bush_scotus;_yl...HNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

Ready-to-rumble Democrats warned that Alito may be an extremist who would curb abortion rights.

I would have never thought! Im almost certain that comment would have been made even if they didnt know who the judge was.

Ready-to-rumble Democrats warned that Alito may be an extremist who would curb abortion rights.

I would have never thought! Im almost certain that comment would have been made even if they didnt know who the judge was.

You mean how they didnt fight Roberts much or say they would rumble over him? Bush picked a guy he and anyone who knows judges knew would cause major conflict because the right wing nuts want to ignore the rest of the country.

Ready-to-rumble Democrats warned that Alito may be an extremist who would curb abortion rights.

I would have never thought! Im almost certain that comment would have been made even if they didnt know who the judge was.

You mean how they didnt fight Roberts much or say they would rumble over him? Bush picked a guy he and anyone who knows judges knew would cause major conflict because the right wing nuts want to ignore the rest of the country.

 

Just like the left-wing nuts want to ignore the rest of the country. :lol

The Supreme Court does make rulings on cases that don't involve abortion, right? Just checking.

good job in alienating the country yet again bush.

 

 

i mean he did a really awesome job in his pick of roberts. very qualified candidate and went through very easily.

 

then he comes back with these two picks. glad to see bush and his staffers are back to being their normal selves.

 

The Supreme Court does make rulings on cases that don't involve abortion, right? Just checking.

 

 

they do, this just happens to be one of the most decisive issues out there right now. its fairly cyclical in that the hotbed issue of the day dominates the proceedings.

What did you guys expect? Of course you knew he was going to nominate some hardcore conservative, it was just a question of who.

What did you guys expect? Of course you knew he was going to nominate some hardcore conservative, it was just a question of who.

 

 

 

 

and he wont be confirmed. just meaning that justice o'conner has to put off retirement that much longer.