A Call To Action – Judge Samuel Alito

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by Caroline Vernon

Progressive Action for the Common Good

www.qcprogressiveaction.org

Calling all Progressive Activists….

Judge Samuel Alito threatens individual rights and hides his far right
views—he is not in the mainstream of American jurisprudence.

 

Send
emails through their websites:


obama.senate.gov/contact/,
durbin.senate.gov/sitepages/contact.htm,

harkin.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm,

http://grassley.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home



Or send postal letters to:

Or click here to use a feature on the Democratic Party website that provides you with most of your local newspapers.





Here
is more information for your review:



Judge Alito has regularly ruled against civil rights and civil liberties claims. For example, Judge Alito:



Wrote a
dissent in Planned Parenthood v. Casey arguing that a state's spousal
notification requirement did not unduly burden a woman's right to
privacy, a position later rejected by the Supreme Court;



Joined a
dissent arguing that a student-led prayer at a high school graduation
ceremony did not violate the Establishment Clause;



Wrote
several dissents arguing for tighter standards for plaintiffs seeking
trial on their race, gender and disability discrimination claims;



Dissented
from a decision ruling that the strip search of a suspect's wife and
ten-year-old daughter exceeded the scope of the search warrant and was
therefore unconstitutional;



Rejected
a death row inmate's ineffective assistance of counsel claim where the
trial counsel had failed to uncover substantial mitigating evidence — a
decision later reversed by the Supreme Court; Dissented from an /en
banc/ ruling in a death penalty case arguing that the prosecution had
unconstitutionally used its peremptory challenges to exclude all the
black prospective jurors;



Wrote a
dissent arguing that a policy prohibiting all prisoners in long-term
segregation from possessing newspapers, magazines or photographs unless
they were religious or legal did not violate the First Amendment.



It is,
of course, impossible to summarize a fifteen-year judicial career in a
few bullet points. But it is also fair to say that these highlighted
decisions illustrate a broader pattern of judicial decision-making. By
and large, Judge Alito's opinions make it more difficult for plaintiffs
alleging discrimination to prevail, easier for the government to lend
its support to religion, and harder to challenge questionable tactics
by the police and prosecution.



Judge
Alito has also taken a narrow view of congressional power in two
noteworthy cases. First, Judge Alito held that Congress had exceeded
its power under the Fourteenth Amendment by requiring the states to
provide time off for sick employees under the Family and Medical Leave
Act. Several years later, the Supreme Court rejected a similar claim in
upholding a parallel provision of the FMLA. Second, Judge Alito argued
in dissent that Congress had exceeded its power under the Commerce
Clause by making it a federal crime to possess a machine gun. This
narrow view of the Commerce Clause could have implications in future
civil rights cases.



I encourage you to read the ACLU's full report
at:



http://www.aclu.org/scotus/2005/23308res20060103.html



Thanks
for all you do!!!!!