Alito personifies judicial restraint

Barring surprise, he deserves confirmation

Published January 9, 2006 at midnight

Text size

More Editorials

No one seriously questions the qualifications of federal appeals court Judge Samuel Alito to sit on the Supreme Court: U.S. attorney, assistant to the solicitor general and the attorney general, and a 15-year tenure on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Former colleagues, including Democrats, who worked with Alito the prosecutor laud his insistence on defending the law rather than pursuing a political agenda. Keep that in mind as confirmation hearings open in Washington today. Liberal interest groups and some partisan Democrats are up in arms because Alito has served as a model of restraint.

And that's why the Senate should confirm Judge Alito to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor. He has refused to elevate his ideology above the rule of law while showing deference to the crucial but limited role the Founders envisioned for federal judges.

On principle, the Senate should give the president substantial leeway to appoint federal officials who share his views. And while candidates for life-tenured positions on the Supreme Court deserve thorough scrutiny, we are confident that the hearings will let Alito earn the nation's trust.

On the bench, Alito has championed a government with limited, defined powers. He has defended the First Amendment's guarantee of religious liberty, ruling against governments that denied Muslims and Indians their ability to freely express their faiths.

In United States v. Rybar, he seconded the view articulated by the Supreme Court in United States v. Lopez that the Constitution's Commerce Clause does not give Congress unlimited power to regulate private actions. And though in Planned Parenthood v. Casey Alito wrote in favor of a spousal-notification requirement for abortions that the Supreme Court later rejected, his law clerk at the time, self-described Democrat Jim Goneia, told the Las Vegas Sun that he "never had any clue what (Alito's) personal opinion might be."

His measured approach has not slowed the partisan spinmeisters from lobbing scurrilous allegations - charging everything from misogyny to racism. The left-wing interest groups portray Alito as someone who should be under house arrest, rather than an accomplished nominee with a distinguished résumé.

But Senate Democrats have an opportunity to rise above the muck. We applaud their plan to focus on Alito's views of the proper balance of power between the president and Congress. Concerns about executive authority deserve special attention, particularly as the Bush administration prosecutes the war on terror.

Barring any stunning surprises, Samuel Alito should be confirmed. While we will surely disagree with some of his decisions, we're confident that they will be soundly reasoned and reflect respect for both the Constitution and the law.

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News