Samuel Alito Supreme Court nomination
On October 31, 2005, President George W. Bush nominated Samuel Alito for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Alito's nomination was confirmed by a 58–42 vote of the United States Senate on January 31, 2006.
Samuel Alito Supreme Court nomination
George W. Bush (President of the United States)
October 31, 2005
January 31, 2006
Approved by the U.S. Senate
10
8
Reported favorably
58
42
Confirmed
Alito was a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit at the time of his nomination to the Court. He had been appointed to that position by the president's father, President George H. W. Bush in 1990. Leonard Leo played a crucial role in successfully shepherding Alito's appointment through the Senate.[1]
White House announcement[edit]
On October 31, 2005, President George W. Bush nominated Samuel Alito, a federal appeals court judge with a conservative record, to succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the United States Supreme Court. The announcement came four days after the president's initial choice, Harriet Miers, withdrew herself from the confirmation process.[2] Before Bush chose Miers, Alito's name was among those frequently mentioned a possible candidate for the seat.[3]
In announcing Alito's nomination, Bush stated, "He's scholarly, fair-minded and principled and these qualities will serve him well on the highest court in the land. [His record] reveals a thoughtful judge who considers the legal merits carefully and applies the law in a principled fashion. He has a deep understanding of the proper role of judges in our society. He understands judges are to interpret the laws, not to impose their preferences or priorities on the people."[4] Alito, in accepting the nomination, said, "Federal judges have the duty to interpret the Constitution and the laws faithfully and fairly, to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans, and to do these things with care and with restraint, always keeping in mind the limited role that the courts play in our constitutional system. And I pledge that if confirmed I will do everything within my power to fulfill that responsibility."[4]
Nomination issues[edit]
Conflict of interest question[edit]
On a questionnaire for the Senate Judiciary Committee in his Third Circuit Court-of-Appeals confirmation process in 1990, Alito said he would avoid a conflict of interest by not voting on cases involving First Federal Savings & Loan of Rochester, NY, and two investment companies, Smith Barney and Vanguard Group, because he held accounts with them. However, in 2002, Alito upheld a lower court's dismissal of a lawsuit filed against multiple company defendants, including Vanguard Group. When notified of the situation, Alito denied doing anything improper but recused himself from further involvement in the case. The case was reheard with the new panel coming to the same conclusion.
On November 10, Alito wrote a letter to Judiciary Committee chairman Specter in which he explained his participation in the case.[14] He said that when he had originally listed Vanguard and Smith Barney in 1990, "my intention was to state that I would never knowingly hear a case where a conflict of interest existed. [...] As my service continued, I realized that I had been unduly restrictive."
During witness testimony of Alito's confirmation hearings, witness John Payton (member of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary) testified: "In the end, he did acknowledge that it was his responsibility that a mistake and error had been made. Those cases should have been caught and he should have not heard those cases."
American Bar Association rating[edit]
Alito was rated by the American Bar Association as "Well Qualified", which is the ABA's highest recommendation. In a letter[15] to the Judiciary Committee, Chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary, Stephen Tober, reviewed Alito's failure to recuse himself in Vanguard and Smith Barney matters, and a third case where a conflict was alleged. Tober concluded:
Senate votes[edit]
Committee[edit]
On January 24, 2006, the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed the Alito nomination, sending it to the full Senate for final action in a 10–8 party-line vote. Not since 1916, concerning the Supreme Court nomination of Louis Brandeis, had the committee's vote to approve a nominee split precisely along party lines. The vote underscored the contrasting views on Alito's conservative judicial record.[16]
Filibuster threat[edit]
Some Democratic senators who opposed the Alito nomination considered using a filibuster option in the attempt to block the nomination. Barbara Boxer said, "The filibuster's on the table." While other senators warned not to rush to a decision, Dick Durbin said "I don't think we should assume that's going to happen at all." He added, "Ordinarily it takes six to eight weeks to evaluate a Supreme Court nominee. We shouldn't rush to judgment."
At the conclusion of the confirmation hearings, on January 12, the threat of a filibuster appeared to grow more remote as Durbin called a filibuster attempt "unlikely," and fellow Democrat Dianne Feinstein said, "I do not see a likelihood of a filibuster. This might be a man I disagree with, but it doesn't mean he shouldn't be on the court." She changed her position on January 27, saying that she would vote no for cloture.[17] One day earlier Senator John Kerry had publicly called for a filibuster to block Alito's confirmation, accusing President Bush of trying to make the Supreme Court more ideologically conservative.[18] Kerry called for the filibuster while at a resort in Davos, Switzerland, leading Republicans to ridicule him.[19] Despite receiving support from fellow Democrats, including Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton, others, concerned about the political cost of such a move, such as Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu, opposed it.[20][21]
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid supported the call for a filibuster, though he acknowledged it was unlikely to succeed, saying, "Everyone knows there are not enough votes to support a filibuster."[18] The effort to garner support for a filibuster indeed fizzled out, as the Senate voted to invoke cloture on the nomination 72–25, easily exceeding the 60 votes needed to pass the motion to end debate; only 24 of the Senate's 44 Democrats went along with the filibuster (the chamber's lone independent, Sen. Jim Jeffords, did as well). All of the members of the Gang of 14 voted for cloture with the majority.[22]
While expressing concern about the use of the filibuster, believing that it was both ineffective and the wrong way of going about the nomination, then senator, Barack Obama ultimately joined the attempt to filibuster Alito, due to believing that Alito's views were "contrary to core American values" [23] Obama later expressed regret over supporting the filibuster, believing that it contributed to the "broken" nomination process for the Supreme Court. [24]
Full Senate[edit]
The Senate voted 58–42 on January 31, 2006, to confirm Alito as the 110th justice of the Supreme Court. All but one of the Senate's 55 Republicans voted to confirm Alito; they were joined by four Democrats who broke party ranks and voted in his favor. This was the closest confirmation vote for a Supreme Court nominee since Associate Justice Clarence Thomas was confirmed 52–48 in 1991.[22]