EDITORIAL JUDGING ALITO.MINUTES after President George W. Bush nominated Judge Samuel Alito Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. (born April 1, 1950) is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Educated at Princeton University and Yale Law School, Alito served as a United States attorney and a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to the U.S. Supreme Court, the public was besieged be·siege tr.v. be·sieged, be·sieg·ing, be·sieg·es 1. To surround with hostile forces. 2. To crowd around; hem in. 3. by the usual partisan boasts and accusations - none of which tells us much about the man or the judge. What we do know is that Alito's qualifications as a constitutional scholar, lawyer and judge are beyond question, arguably surpassing even those of Chief Justice John Roberts. We also know that he is politically conservative. And while politics ought not disqualify To deprive of eligibility or render unfit; to disable or incapacitate. To be disqualified is to be stripped of legal capacity. A wife would be disqualified as a juror in her husband's trial for murder due to the nature of their relationship. anyone from the Supreme Court, the ability to separate politics from the duties of a justice ought to be a prerequisite for the job. In 1993, Bill Clinton appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg (born March 15 1933, Brooklyn, New York) is an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Having spent 13 years as a federal judge, but not being a career jurist, she is unique as a Supreme Court justice, having spent the majority of her career as an , a well-known liberal, former ACLU ACLU: see American Civil Liberties Union. lawyer and longtime federal judge to the court. Upon examining her judicial record, the Senate found that Ginsburg made fair decisions in good faith and with a clear grounding in the law. The Senate approved her nomination on a bipartisan 96-3 vote. Now it's time for the Senate to similarly scrutinize Alito's record. With him having written hundreds of decisions, it shouldn't be hard to tell whether Alito, too, has judged with integrity, or whether he's put ideology above his oath of office An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before undertaking the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. . This is what the confirmation process is for. Let the Senate and nation judge Alito on his qualifications and his history, separate from the partisan grandstanding. CAPTION(S): box Box: DAILY NEWS SPECIAL ELECTION ENDORSEMENTS |
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