Bloomberg News - Supreme Court Nominee Alito Discusses Abortion in Job Application 20 Years Ago

November 14, 2005
by James Rowley in Washington

Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito Jr. said on a 1985 Reagan administration job application that he disagreed with the high court's ruling that there is a constitutional right to abortion.

Alito also said he disagreed with the court's rulings during the 1960s that outlawed organized prayer in public schools, expanded criminal defendants' rights and gave courts supervision of legislative redistricting. He gave those views in an application for a political job in the Justice Department during Ronald Reagan's presidency. At the time, Alito was an assistant to the solicitor general.

"I am particularly proud of my contribution in recent cases in which the government has argued in the Supreme Court that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion,'' Alito wrote in an addendum to his application to be a deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel.

Alito, nominated by President George W. Bush to succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, has sought to reassure Republican and Democratic senators that he would keep an open mind about abortion and other hot-button issues confronting the court. Alito, 55, has been a federal appeals court judge since 1990.

Roe v. Wade

Several senators who support abortion rights, including Maine Republican Susan Collins and Connecticut Democrat Joseph Lieberman, have said they were reassured by Alito's comments during private meetings that the Supreme Court's 1973 decision legalizing abortion nationwide deserves respect as a legal precedent.

Critics of Alito's nomination seized on the 1985 job application as evidence the nominee would vote to overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling if confirmed by the Senate to be an associate justice.

"Judge Alito's letter underscores our concern that he would vote to turn back the clock on decades of judicial precedent protecting privacy, equal opportunity, religious freedom and so much more,'' said Ralph G. Neas, president of People for the American Way, a Washington-based advocacy group that opposes Alito's Senate confirmation.

Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts called Alito's statements "deeply troubling.'' Alito "was clearly trying to pass a litmus test'' by "pledging his allegiance against established Supreme Court decisions'' to "get a promotion''' in the Reagan administration, Kennedy said in a statement.

168 Pages

The document was among 168 pages of material from Alito's government service released by the National Archives and Records Administration. Alito was appointed a deputy to then-Assistant Attorney General Charles Cooper, who headed the Justice Department office that provides legal advice to the attorney general and the heads of other government agencies.

Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas said in a statement that Alito's ''long track record'' as an appellate judge ''shows he has put his personal views on abortion aside.''

In 2000, Alito voted as a member of a three-judge panel of the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to strike down a New Jersey law outlawing a procedure opponents call "partial-birth'' abortion. Alito said he was bound by a Supreme Court precedent on that issue.

In his application, Alito wrote that the National Review, a conservative political magazine founded by William F. Buckley Jr., and the 1964 presidential campaign of Republican Barry Goldwater were "the greatest influences'' on his political views.

'Deep Interest'

As a Princeton University undergraduate, Alito wrote, he "developed a deep interest in constitutional law motivated by disagreement'' with decisions by the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren dealing with criminal procedure, the separation of church and state and reapportionment of legislative districts.

In a series of decisions, the Warren court outlawed organized prayer in public schools, saying it violated the Constitution's prohibition on government-established religion. The court ruled that states must redraw legislative districts to ensure that each voter was equally represented.

The Warren court also drew the ire of conservatives for rulings that expanded the rights of criminal defendants. One decision requires police to warn suspects in custody of their constitutional protection against self-incrimination before questioning them.

'Always' a Conservative

In his pitch for the political job, Alito said, "I have always been a conservative'' and that he shared the Reagan administration's support for "limited government'' and "free enterprise'' and "the legitimacy of a government role in protecting traditional values.''

Alito's letter also said he had made "modest political contributions'' to "conservative causes'' and Republican candidates, including three who were opponents of abortion: New Jersey Congressmen Christopher Smith and James Courter, as well as Jeff Bell, who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in New Jersey in 1982.

Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, a Washington-based group that opposes abortion, said in a statement that Alito's 20-year-old statement about abortion "cannot be used to disqualify him for a seat on the high court.''

Alito was nominated for the Supreme Court vacancy after White House Counsel Harriet Miers withdrew from consideration in the face of opposition by anti-abortion groups. These groups said they were not convinced that Miers would be a reliable vote to cement a conservative majority on the Supreme Court.

In his statement, Kennedy said Alito's political views "may explain why the right wing expressed such enthusiastic support for Judge Alito after campaigning against Harriet Miers.''