January 11, 2006

Judging Alito

Judge Samuel Alito’s confirmation hearings to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court finally got underway Monday.

While the proceedings often appear to be a lot of talk, we do know at least some Senators have done the right kind of homework. On the desk of Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) during the hearings, I’m happy to say, was a copy of The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, as seen in a Yahoo News photo. You can follow Sen. Coburn’s example and get your copy from the Heritage store.

In their opening statements on Monday, liberal senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee attacked Judge Alito for holding the belief that neither executive power nor legislative power is supreme. Of course, they took the opportunity to take shots at the Bush administration, whose exercise of executive power as laid out in the Constitution has annoyed liberals.

Questioning continued yesterday, largely centering on the judge’s opinions on Roe v. Wade, the commerce clause as it relates to firearms, and the role of the executive. Liberal senators sought to portray the nominee in the worst possible light, suggesting for example that he favored discrimination against minorities and an unrestrained executive. The New York Times reported that despite the harsh questioning “Judge Alito was placid, monochromatic and, it seemed, mostly untouchable.”

The hearings continue today at 9:30 ET. You can watch live at CSPAN.org.

Committed to the rule of law

Judge Alito, in his opening remarks before the committee on Monday, confirmed that he does indeed have a commitment to rule of law and to remaining impartial and unbiased (emphasis added).

The role of a practicing attorney is to achieve a desirable result for the client in the particular case at hand. But a judge can't think that way. A judge can't have any agenda, a judge can't have any preferred outcome in any particular case and a judge certainly doesn't have a client.

The judge's only obligation -- and it's a solemn obligation -- is to the rule of law. And what that means is that in every single case, the judge has to do what the law requires.

Liberal senators are sure to question him on this belief, which holds that no personal political bias—in favor of big government, say—can trump the Constitution.

A qualified judge

The opening two sessions certainly reinforced perceptions that Judge Alito is well qualified to serve on the Supreme Court. For example, a new Washington Post poll shows that even at this early stage, a majority of Americans supports his confirmation. And last week, the American Bar Association granted him a unanimous rating of “well-qualified.”

Judge Alito has served for 15 years as a federal judge, and before that he worked to lock up criminals as a federal prosecutor in New Jersey and served in President Reagan’s Justice Department, where he argued dozens of cases before the high court.

He also has shown careful and consistent fidelity to the Constitution and laws as written, without injecting bias or personal preferences. What’s more, even liberals have called him “an honest conservative judge,” and “intellectually honest.” According to one former liberal judge, “he doesn't have an agenda.”

• Find out more about Judge Alito’s accomplishments and qualifications

The liberal myth about the role of judges

Liberals have spent decades spreading the myth that it is the role of judges to identify and fix problems with our society. This is false.

In fact, the role of judges is to interpret the law as it is written, not to create new law. The creation of law is the proper role of legislatures. Liberals who argue that judges should create constitutional doctrines to support their social policies are really usurping power from the people.

• Read the rest of this myth buster on the proper role of judges

What you can do

If you believe in the rule of law, if you believe judges should make rulings based on what the law says, now is the time to get active.

Take advantage of MyHeritage.org’s activist toolkit to

• Write a letter to the editor about the importance of rule of law
• Contact your member of Congress to tell them you support judges who don’t legislate from the bench
• Forward this e-mail to your friends and colleagues and encourage them to sign up for MyHeritage.org e-mails
• Support The Heritage Foundation as it fights for judges with solid judicial philosophies

In other news

• Representative Tom Delay (R-TX) decided Saturday not to return to his duties as majority leader in the House of Representatives. The Republican conference is expected to hold an election in the coming days to pick a new leader.
• Meanwhile, a Texas court refused to dismiss the money laundering charges against Rep. Delay or to accelerate the trial.
• The UN Security Council’s members have told Iran to cease its nuclear development or face possible sanctions.
• Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s condition improved yesterday after doctors revived him from an induced coma. Sharon suffered a debilitating stroke last week.
• The Heritage Foundation joins millions of Americans in mourning the death of twelve miners in a West Virginia coal mine last week. Inquiries into the accident are underway.

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