Courting victory
December 1, 2006| By The Heritage Foundation
Heritage and Judge Alito
Heritage’s Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy Ed Meese has been on the front lines fighting for Judge Alito's confirmation to the Supreme Court.
As left-wing groups rallied against Judge Samuel Alito, President George W. Bush’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Heritage was there to fight the far-left’s political posturing with a factual, principled defense of this distinguished jurist.
Our efforts began immediately upon President Bush’s announcement of the Alito nomination. Heritage’s Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy Ed Meese quickly noted Judge Alito’s numerous qualifications—from his service in the Reagan and Bush Administrations to his 15 years of experience as an appellate judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
“Indeed,” Meese observed, “Judge Alito has more federal judicial experience than 105 of 109 of the Supreme Court justices when they were appointed.”
As the campaign for Alito’s confirmation heated up, Heritage provided a detailed look at the historic and constitutional underpinnings of the confirmation process in The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, which brings together more than 100 of America’s top legal experts to offer a line-by-line examination of the Constitution and its contemporary meaning.
Northwestern University Professor of Law John McGinnis writes that the Constitution’s Appointments Clause “structures the confirmation process so that when two of the Republic’s national governing branches are in fundamental disagreement, there will be a struggle to persuade the people of the correctness of their respective positions.”
Heritage also assisted lawmakers as they struggled to persuade their colleagues of the correctness of a fair confirmation process for a well-qualified judicial nominee.
Heritage experts conveyed this message through frequent one-on-one meetings with members of Congress and the Administration. We also got our message across through the media and the Internet. The impact of our work was reported daily in the news media and online at MyHeritage.org. In fact, MyHeritage.org posted information bolstering Judge Alito’s qualifications, available at MyHeritage.org/Alito.
At every step of this important confirmation battle, Heritage was front and center representing your principles in the face of left-wing extremism.
