Lieberman is “Encouraged” After Meeting with Alito
By Mandy Kozar
WASHINGTON, Nov. 8-Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said he was “encouraged” after meeting Tuesday morning with Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
After talking with Alito for about 40 minutes, Lieberman told reporters that the meeting had gone very well but he still had a lot to do before making a final decision on the nomination.
“Judge Alito is very learned in the law, an impressive person,” Lieberman said, “I thought that he was very refreshingly willing to talk about decisions that he has written, and while, obviously, would not say explicitly how he would rule in particular cases as a member of the Supreme Court, I thought we had a very good exchange.”
Lieberman is a member of the “Gang of 14,” seven Republicans and seven Democrats who are considered key votes on confirmation.
Alito, who was nominated to fill Sandra Day O’Connor’s seat on the Supreme Court after Harriet Miers dropped out before Senate hearings began, has been meeting with senators since his nomination Oct. 31.
Since then, critics have accused Alito of being an extreme conservative and someone who would tip the court to the right on issues such as abortion.
“I’m disappointed that it appears President Bush chose to nominate a top choice of the extreme right rather than a mainstream jurist more in line with the views of the American people,” Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said in a press release.
Lieberman said that when he asked Alito to define his philosophy, the nominee called himself a “judicial traditionalist.”
“I think a judicial traditionalist . speaks to a respect for precedent, a respect for constitutional traditions of the court,” Lieberman said.
In responding to questions about Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling striking down restrictions on abortion, Alito “basically said that Roe was precedent on which a lot of people rely and has been precedent now for decades and therefore deserves a great respect,” said Lieberman, a supporter of abortion rights.
Abortion is likely to be an important issue in the Judiciary Committee hearings scheduled to begin in early January. As an appeals court judge, Alito ruled in 1991 that states should be allowed to require women to tell their husbands before they have an abortion.
The Supreme Court overturned the decision, with O’Connor providing the crucial fifth vote, applying the test of whether the requirement would impose an “undue burden” on women.
Lieberman said Alito refused to comment on the “undue burden” test because he might eventually have to rule on it if he is confirmed to the Supreme Court.
When asked if he would support a filibuster to block the nomination, Lieberman said he had not decided, adding that “this was an encouraging meeting but there are a lot of questions remaining, and I don’t feel in a rush to make decision.”
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