Word: alito
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Republican officials say they are so worried about the Abramoff problem that they are now inclined to stoke a fight with Democrats over the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court in an effort to turn the page from the lobbying investigation. Outside groups plan to spend heavily, and the White House will engage in some tit for tat with Democrats as the hearings heat...
...Alito wanted a bigger job, but he had a problem. The 35-year-old graduate of Princeton and Yale was working at the Justice Department in 1985 at the height of conservative euphoria over the re-election of Ronald Reagan. But he was not part of what was known as the "secret handshake" crowd?the Administration's tight-knit cadre of Reaganite true believers. He had been one of the young lawyers from élite schools hired without regard to their political leanings by the Solicitor General's office. The Reaganauts suspected many of the career lawyers were liberals hoping...
Still, some at Justice got the impression through informal conversations that Alito was more conservative than he let on, although he rarely talked directly about politics. And they admired his approach to the law. In a department in which even some Reagan disciples were worried that colleagues focused too much on ideology rather than legal reasoning to back their claims, Alito diligently researched every issue, wrote clearly and avoided ideological traps. "I was just very impressed by the disciplined nature of his mind," says Chuck Cooper, a Justice Department official at the time. "He could view a legal issue...
...when Cooper was named to head the department's Office of Legal Counsel, he immediately thought of Alito to be one of his deputies. The office functions almost as a law firm within the Executive Branch, offering legal advice on the various ideas coming from other presidential aides?the perfect post for a man who focused more on the fine points of jurisprudence than on politics. This was a chance for a big step up. The question was, Could he be trusted...
...refusal to approve EC for over-the-counter sale in the face of scientific consensus, the Democratic Party’s endorsement of pro-life candidate Robert Casey Jr. to oppose Rick Santorum, R-Penn., President Bush’s appointment of strongly anti-abortion Samuel Alito to replace the moderate Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court: all should send a powerful message to the pro-choice community. Both at Harvard and nationally, those who believe in a woman’s right to choose must take action...