Officials: Bush to nominate Alito to high court Miers helps finalize choice to replace her as Supreme Court pick
Monday, October 31, 2005; Posted: 6:54 a.m. EST (11:54 GMT)
Samuel Alito has been a judge for 15 years and is a former U.S. attorney. WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush will nominate 3rd Circuit Appeals Court Judge Samuel Alito for the U.S. Supreme Court, sources told CNN on Monday.
The president is expected to make an announcement at the White House at 8 a.m. ET., sources said.
Alito, a former U.S. attorney who has been a judge for 15 years, is considered a favorite of the conservative movement and is Bush's third pick for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's seat.
His first, Judge John Roberts, was later nominated and confirmed to replace the late William Rehnquist as chief justice of the United States. (See video on Bush effort to rebound -- 2:27)
The second nominee, Texas lawyer and White House counsel Harriet Miers, withdrew from the process Thursday after weeks of opposition from both liberals and conservatives, who questioned her qualifications and record.
The 55-year-old Alito was put on the circuit court bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 after his service as U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.
He also served as assistant to Solicitor General Rex E. Lee from 1981 to 1985 and deputy assistant to Attorney General Edwin Meese from 1985 to 1987.
A Trenton, New Jersey, native, Alito graduated from Princeton in 1972 and earned his law degree from Yale in 1975.
Legal experts consider him so ideologically similar to Justice Antonin Scalia that he has earned the nickname "Scalito."
In one of his more well-known decisions, Alito wrote the opinion in a case that said a Christmas display on city property did not violate separation of church and state doctrines because it included a large plastic Santa Claus as well as religious symbols.
In another, he was the only dissenting voice in a 3rd Circuit ruling striking down a Pennsylvania law that required women to notify their husbands if they planned to get an abortion.
Monday's announcement will return focus to the Supreme Court after a week of political difficulty for the White House and Republicans, with Miers' withdrawal coming a day before a grand jury indicted Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff on charges including perjury and obstruction of justice. (Full story)
Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican who chairs the Judiciary Committee, on Sunday said he had been consulted by the White House about Miers' replacement but had not been informed of who the president plans to nominate.
Specter said he is "very worried" that Democrats could filibuster a candidate they perceive as an extreme right-wing jurist. [/url][/url] Confirmation could be tough battle
The topic that "dominates the discussion," Specter said, is abortion.
Both sides of the debate want to know in advance how a nominee will vote on the issue, but that is an answer that "no one is entitled to," he said.
"There could be a real tough battle here and a real tough fight, depending on whom the president puts up," said Specter, who supports abortion rights.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid -- a Nevada Democrat who had recommended Miers -- said Sunday he feared Bush would "try to placate the right wing" with his next nominee, "and that's a mistake."
"If he wants to divert attention ... he can send us someone who's going to cause a lot of problems," Reid told CNN, saying the "radical right wing" was "pushing all his buttons, and he may just go along."
Reid said the choice of Alito "would create a lot of problems."
"That is not one of the names that I've suggested to the president," he said. "In fact, I've done the opposite."
Bush nominated Miers on October 3 to replace O'Connor, often a moderate swing vote, on the high court.
O'Connor, who has announced her retirement, will stay on the court until the Senate confirms her replacement.
A senior administration official told CNN last week that the next choice will be based at least in part on the "lessons learned" from Miers' nomination.
In addition to Miers' perceived lack of conservative credentials, the White House also could consider two other points of criticism on her nomination: her lack of experience as a judge or with constitutional law; and her close ties to the president, which prompted Democratic concerns about her judicial independence.[/url][/url] Poll: Experience important
A poll released Sunday suggests Americans consider experience as a judge as more important than choosing a woman or a conservative.
The CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll of 800 adult Americans, conducted by telephone Friday through Sunday, found that only about one in seven said it is essential that Bush nominate a woman, and one in five said it is essential he nominate a conservative.
But half believe it is essential that Bush nominate someone with experience as a judge.
Sixteen percent said it is essential that the nominee would vote to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, and another 16 percent said it is a good idea.
But 42 percent said a nominee who opposes Roe v. Wade would be a bad idea.
The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Monday, October 31, 2005; Posted: 6:54 a.m. EST (11:54 GMT)
Samuel Alito has been a judge for 15 years and is a former U.S. attorney. WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush will nominate 3rd Circuit Appeals Court Judge Samuel Alito for the U.S. Supreme Court, sources told CNN on Monday. The president is expected to make an announcement at the White House at 8 a.m. ET., sources said.
Alito, a former U.S. attorney who has been a judge for 15 years, is considered a favorite of the conservative movement and is Bush's third pick for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's seat.
His first, Judge John Roberts, was later nominated and confirmed to replace the late William Rehnquist as chief justice of the United States. (See video on Bush effort to rebound -- 2:27)
The second nominee, Texas lawyer and White House counsel Harriet Miers, withdrew from the process Thursday after weeks of opposition from both liberals and conservatives, who questioned her qualifications and record.
The 55-year-old Alito was put on the circuit court bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 after his service as U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.
He also served as assistant to Solicitor General Rex E. Lee from 1981 to 1985 and deputy assistant to Attorney General Edwin Meese from 1985 to 1987.
A Trenton, New Jersey, native, Alito graduated from Princeton in 1972 and earned his law degree from Yale in 1975.
Legal experts consider him so ideologically similar to Justice Antonin Scalia that he has earned the nickname "Scalito."
In one of his more well-known decisions, Alito wrote the opinion in a case that said a Christmas display on city property did not violate separation of church and state doctrines because it included a large plastic Santa Claus as well as religious symbols.
In another, he was the only dissenting voice in a 3rd Circuit ruling striking down a Pennsylvania law that required women to notify their husbands if they planned to get an abortion.
Monday's announcement will return focus to the Supreme Court after a week of political difficulty for the White House and Republicans, with Miers' withdrawal coming a day before a grand jury indicted Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff on charges including perjury and obstruction of justice. (Full story)
Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican who chairs the Judiciary Committee, on Sunday said he had been consulted by the White House about Miers' replacement but had not been informed of who the president plans to nominate.
Specter said he is "very worried" that Democrats could filibuster a candidate they perceive as an extreme right-wing jurist. [/url][/url] Confirmation could be tough battle
The topic that "dominates the discussion," Specter said, is abortion.
Both sides of the debate want to know in advance how a nominee will vote on the issue, but that is an answer that "no one is entitled to," he said.
"There could be a real tough battle here and a real tough fight, depending on whom the president puts up," said Specter, who supports abortion rights.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid -- a Nevada Democrat who had recommended Miers -- said Sunday he feared Bush would "try to placate the right wing" with his next nominee, "and that's a mistake."
"If he wants to divert attention ... he can send us someone who's going to cause a lot of problems," Reid told CNN, saying the "radical right wing" was "pushing all his buttons, and he may just go along."
Reid said the choice of Alito "would create a lot of problems."
"That is not one of the names that I've suggested to the president," he said. "In fact, I've done the opposite."
Bush nominated Miers on October 3 to replace O'Connor, often a moderate swing vote, on the high court.
O'Connor, who has announced her retirement, will stay on the court until the Senate confirms her replacement.
A senior administration official told CNN last week that the next choice will be based at least in part on the "lessons learned" from Miers' nomination.
In addition to Miers' perceived lack of conservative credentials, the White House also could consider two other points of criticism on her nomination: her lack of experience as a judge or with constitutional law; and her close ties to the president, which prompted Democratic concerns about her judicial independence.[/url][/url] Poll: Experience important
A poll released Sunday suggests Americans consider experience as a judge as more important than choosing a woman or a conservative.
The CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll of 800 adult Americans, conducted by telephone Friday through Sunday, found that only about one in seven said it is essential that Bush nominate a woman, and one in five said it is essential he nominate a conservative.
But half believe it is essential that Bush nominate someone with experience as a judge.
Sixteen percent said it is essential that the nominee would vote to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, and another 16 percent said it is a good idea.
But 42 percent said a nominee who opposes Roe v. Wade would be a bad idea.
The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
