Alito Hearings Begin Today

By David Brody
Capitol HIll Correspondent

CBN.com – WASHINGTON - Samuel Alito's Supreme Court confirmation hearings finally start today,
more than two months after the President nominated him to the Supreme Court.

Alito's hearings could be very contentious. This morning at the White House, Alito and Bush strolled through the Rose Garden. Call it the quiet before the storm.

"My hope, of course, is that the Senate brings dignity to the process and gives this man a fair hearing,” Bush said, “and an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. Sam, good luck to you."

It may be the most intense Supreme Court confirmation hearings since Robert Bork was voted down two decades ago. The conservative Alito would replace the moderate Sandra Day O'Connor, possibly shifting the court to the right for decades to come.

"This battle is about as important as Supreme Court battles get. He's replacing Sandra Day O'Connor, who was at the center of all the most contentious decisions of American life," said Prof. Jeffrey Rosen of George Washington University Law School.

So just exactly who is Alito? His backers say he is conservative but no activist, someone who will not start making law from the bench. But Alito's critics contend he is the most dangerous man in America.

So much so that there were Alito demonstrations last night, complete with lighted torches and chants of 'our rights are finito under Alito." They believe that the judge will roll back civil liberties and overturn Roe v. Wade and side with government instead of the little guy.

Liberal groups are calling him ‘outside the mainstream,’ something Republican Senator John Cornyn dismisses. "This is not a person who's outside the mainstream,” Cornyn insisted. “He may be outside the liberal mainstream, which is the main complaint of some of the outside groups who are pressuring Democrat senators to filibuster and oppose this nomination."

Senate Democrats say they will wait until the hearings are over to decide if they will try to block the Alito nomination. They say that decision will hinge on one very important condition.

"The key here for Judge Alito is to answer the questions directly, not to duck. Then we'll all have to make a judgment," explained Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY).

Democrats will focus their questions on two crucial areas: abortion and presidential powers. Alito wrote 20 years ago in a job application for the Reagan administration that there is no constitutional right to an abortion, something he will have to explain.

And in his 15 years on the federal appeals court, he has ruled in favor of more power for the executive branch of government. That may not play well with Democrats, especially in a time of war and with a president who has come under criticism for a controversial wiretapping program.

But no matter what topics come up in this week-long hearing, those close to Alito say he is ready for the tough questions. He may not be as polished as a former Supreme Court nominee, Chief Justice John Roberts, who came before him, but in a way, Alito has been preparing for this day his whole life.

In his high school yearbook, it says right by his picture, "Sam intends to go to law school and eventually to warm a seat on the Supreme Court."

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