Speakout: Experienced Alito ideal for Supreme Court

John W. Suthers, Special to the News

Published January 8, 2006 at midnight

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If confirmed by the Senate to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Samuel Alito will be the only justice to have served as a U.S. attorney. As the former U.S. attorney for Colorado, I applaud President Bush's decision to nominate someone with this important credential.

As the chief federal prosecutor in New Jersey, Alito went after organized crime, fought corruption, and vigorously prosecuted violations of federal environmental and civil rights law. Widely respected as a serious, tough-minded and effective prosecutor, Alito was appointed by Bush in 1990 to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Before confirming him by a unanimous vote, senators from both sides of the aisle praised Alito for his commitment to public safety and to the rule of law. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., complimented his "distinguished record," and Democrat Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey said Alito would "make a contribution that will stand the test of time."

Alito's experience as U.S. attorney, coupled with 15 years on the federal bench, will prove valuable on the Supreme Court. In recent years, there has been an explosion in the number and complexity of federal crimes - an explosion called "startling" by an American Bar Association task force. Not surprisingly, federal criminal law cases now make up a large percentage of the court's docket. In one of the most significant cases of last term, for example, the court set aside the mandatory nature of the federal sentencing guidelines.

Importantly, Alito is sensitive not only to the power of federal criminal law, but also to its constitutional limitations and the importance of civil liberties. As a federal appellate judge, he wrote an opinion finding that an arresting officer lacked probable cause under the Fourth Amendment to arrest and search a man based on the "mere fact that (he was) black and the perpetrators had been described as two black males." Similarly, in a case involving a federal law criminalizing the possession of a machine gun, Alito wrote that the law was beyond Congress' Commerce Clause authority because there was no evidence that such possession had a substantial effect on interstate commerce.

In nominating Alito, Bush has chosen someone whose qualifications are extensive and borne of real-world experience - credentials that will benefit both the court and the American people.

John W. Suthers, a former U.S. attorney for the district of Colorado, currently serves as Colorado attorney general.

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