Supreme Knight Carl Anderson of the Knights of Columbus likes President Bush’s pick for the Supreme Court, Judge Samuel Alito. And it’s not just because Alito is Catholic. Anderson goes into surprising detail about his record. (Surprising, because he got it together so quick you’d think Anderson was tipped off ahead of time. Hmmm.)
“Judge Alito’s record as an appellate court judge is especially encouraging. His dissent in the Third Circuit’s decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey was a model of well- reasoned jurisprudence, and was cited by Chief Justice Rehnquist when the case reached the Supreme Court. Judge Alito made a very strong argument for upholding restrictions on abortion that had been adopted by the Pennsylvania legislature, and in the end, the Supreme Court agreed with him on all but one provision.”
“In other cases, Judge Alito has demonstrated a clear and proper understanding of the religion clauses of the First Amendment, writing majority opinions in cases rejecting the ACLU’s attempts to ban manger scenes from public property at Christmastime, and upholding the religious rights of Muslim police officers in Newark,” Anderson noted.
No conservative judicial activists
Some liberals accuse conservatives of having a double standard when it comes to judicial philosophy and abortion for nominees. Conservatives say that don’t want judicial activism, but someone who will abide strictly by the consitution. Liberals retort that conservatives just don’t want liberal judicial activists, but conservative ones who will strike down any law allowing abortion, regardless of constitutionality. But this is disingenuous.
