A Possible Filibuster on the Horizon
By Kirsten Thomas, 11.03.05
Democrats are threatening to filibuster President George W. Bush’s third nominee for Supreme Court Justice. If confirmed Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. will replace retiring Justice Sandra O’Connor. Alito’s nomination is on the heels of Harriet Miers withdrawal last week.
Democrats are less than enthusiastic over Alito’s nomination. Action to stop the confirmation is already in the works, as reported by the Associated Press.
“The filibuster’s on the table,” said Californian Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer. This confirmation block would delay the senatorial vote.
“The fact that the Democrats would use a filibuster is a travesty because the purpose of the senate is to give advice and consent to the president,” Virginia politician Dr. Robert Dyer said.
Historically, confirmation of a justice takes 51 senatorial votes. A filibuster under Senate Rule 22 forces a 60 vote standard to confirm a justice.
However, such action may be risky as Republicans are ready to use what they label the “constitutional/nuclear option” if Democrats proceed with a filibuster. This option would amend the rules of the Senate making a judicial filibuster impossible. Senate Rule 22 which requires 60 votes to break a filibuster would be retained but with the exclusion of a judicial filibuster possibility.
Dean of the Regent University’s Robertson School of Government, Dr. Charles W. Dunn said the potential Alito filibuster will be a set back for the Democrats.
“The Democrats will find themselves filibustering against a Roman Catholic and an Italian, historically two groups [that are] a part of the hardcore Democrat party constituency,” Dunn said.
Republicans are supportive of Bush’s nomination of Alito in contrast to his earlier nomination of Miers. Republicans are confident Alito is a good fit for the court because of his career record and experience as a federal judge.
Dunn explained that Bush’s nomination of Alito as professionally outstanding and politically smart.
“The President named someone with an excellent reputation as a jurist,” Dunn said. “Politically smart because he named an Italian and a Roman Catholic.”
A central point of contention over Alito is his stance on abortion. In a dissenting opinion in 1991, he argued in favor of a Pennsylvania law requiring women seeking abortions to inform their husbands. However, in 2000 Alito recognized a New Jersey law banning “partial-birth abortions” as unconstitutional based on the ruling of the Supreme Court case “Stenberg v. Carhart” earlier that year.
Some Democrats feel that a strict conservative justice such as Alito will further divide the country on issues of abortion, civil rights and the environment.
"This is a continuation of the national divide along partisan lines,” said Keren Charles, a student at the Robertson School of Government. “There are other moderate justices out there.”
However some Democrats are cautioning against any premature actions.
“I would hope that people on both sides would hold their fire, allow the Judiciary Committee to do its work, and not take a position until that work is completed,” said Californian Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Democratic Senator Dick Durbin told CBS’s “The Early Show” not to rush judgment.
“I don’t think we should race to a conclusion here. Ordinarily it takes six to eight weeks to evaluate a Supreme Court nominee,” Durbin said.
Alito, a graduate of Princeton University, 1972 and Yale Law School, 1975 has strong experience in the United States justice system. He has been a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for 15 years. Alito also spent four years arguing cases before the Supreme Court as assistant to the Solicitor General.
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