News Intelligence Analysis
From the New York Times
October 31, 2005
A Look at Alito's Legal Career
By VIKAS BAJAJ
Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. has a long record of rulings on highly charged issues from abortion to the First Amendment as a member of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Though he is considered the most conservative member of a generally liberal-leaning court, Judge Alito has joined the majority on the court on several notable decisions.
Here are some highlights of his time on the court and as a federal prosecutor in Newark:
Abortion cases
• In 1991, Judge Alito agreed with most of the Third Circuit in the Planned Parenthood of Pennsylvania v. Casey decision upholding a law that imposed several limits on abortion. The law required girls younger than 18 seeking abortion to get their parents' consent or a court order saying such approval was not necessary, and it also required all women seeking abortions to be counseled about the procedure and wait 24 hours before they could have the procedure.
But Judge Alito broke with the majority in asserting that Pennsylvania could also require women to notify their husbands before having abortions. This dissent is often cited by conservatives as evidence that the judge shares their beliefs. The late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist quoted Judge Alito in his own dissent in this case when it came before the Supreme Court, which also upheld the other portions of the law by a 5-to-4 vote.
• In 2000, Judge Alito joined the majority when it struck
down New Jersey's
ban on the so-called partial birth abortions in Planned Parenthood
of Central New Jersey v. Farmer. In a concurring opinion,
Mr. Alito echoed the majority in arguing that abortion limits
must have an exception for the preservation of the health of
the mother, because previous Supreme Court rulings required that
they do so.
Go to Opinion
First Amendment cases
• Judge Alito wrote a unanimous Third Circuit's opinion
that struck down a Pennsylvania school board's antiharassment
policy, which he said was so far-reaching that it would punish
students for "simple acts of teasing and name-calling."
Go to Opinion
• In 1999, the judge wrote a unanimous opinion on behalf
of the majority saying the Newark police department had wrongly
fired two Muslim officers for refusing to shave off their beards,
which the two maintained they were required to wear because of
their religious beliefs.
Go
to Opinion
• Judge Alito wrote for the majority in another 1999
decision upholding a Jersey City holiday display that was being
challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union. The decision
cited that the display, which had been modified after previous
displays were deemed unconstitutional, was acceptable because
it "contained not only a crèche, a menorah, and Christmas
tree, but also large plastic figures of Santa Claus and Frosty
the Snowman, a red sled, and Kwanzaa symbols on the tree."
Go to Opinion
Notable prosecutions
• Before he was appointed to the Court of Appeals, Mr. Alito worked on a bribery investigation with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that focused on three housing authorities in New Jersey. Several former government officials pleaded guilty in the case, beginning in 1990.
• Mr. Alito's office secured convictions against three members of the Genovese crime family for plotting to kill John Gotti and his brother Gene in 1989. He also successfully started and prosecuted cases involving members of the Lucchese crime family.
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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