Alito casts his first vote on Supreme Court

[superconnected]

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito dealt Wednesday with his first case, a Missouri death row appeal, then pledged during a White House ceremony to fairly administer justice on the high court.

At his second swearing-in ceremony in two days, this time in the ornate East Room of the White House, Alito received hearty applause from lawmakers and fellow Supreme Court justices. He was lauded by President Bush as a man of "steady demeanor, careful judgment and complete integrity."

After being sworn by Chief Justice John Roberts, Alito said, "I don't think that anyone can become a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States without feeling a tremendous weight of responsibility and a tremendous sense of humility."

Alito's first vote was straightforward. He and other justices refused to give Missouri permission to speed up plans to execute a man who killed a teenage honor student.





http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060202/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_death_penalty_5;_ylt=AqygJBzlh7X3Sm1lxji01X1uCM0A;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

[Warren Stupidity]

1. Let me guess: appeal denied.

Good grief: "He and other justices refused to give Missouri permission to speed up plans to execute a man who killed a teenage honor student."

OK Alito is our guy! Who would've thunk?

(Just kidding, I'm sure the hideous stuff will be quick to follow.)

[Massacure]

14. Alito is better than most people here make him out to be.

There is a list of his decisions on Wikipedia, and I agree with more of them than I disagree with. The case isn't as black and white as people want you to believe.

[merwin]

38. Every justice, no matter how bad, is going to make a lot of good

decisions. However, it's the bad decisions that you really have to be worried about... like the ones taking away our civil liberties.

[Jawja]

62. And like the

one interfering with the Supreme Court of Florida's ruling to have a manual recount of the entire State.

[wisteria]

41. This article and the spin on it are misleading- do some investigating.

And I disagree, Alito is going to be bad news.

[Vinca]

51. Let's not get our hopes up until an abortion case hits the court.

I am encouraged at this ruling, though.

[lindisfarne]

68. I suspect this was a strategic vote on Alito's part his vote didn't change

the decision, and it's a way to take some of the wind out of liberals' criticism of him.

The real issue is: how can he possibly be voting when he didn't participate in the hearings, didn't ask questions, etc.?

[niyad]

2. a second swearing-in? didn't the first one take? he makes a decision in

a death penalty case when he has been on the job how many hours?

[madeline_con]

3. Is he supposed to be on probation for 90 days?

:shrug:

[electropop]

4. I think he should wear an ankle bracelet

so we can know how often he goes over to Norquist's house to get his marching orders.

[madeline_con]

8. Well, yeah but...

he was hired to replace Sandra and was expected to get to work f-ing up rights ASAP.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

49. Heh heh.

Even Norquist says Bush's little wiretapping program is illegal.

[Demeter]

11. Annointed With Oil, No Doubt

These strict Constructionists believe in divine rights of kings.

[superconnected]

5. They already gave him 8 states for emergency appeals.

"Also Wednesday, Alito was given his assignment for handling emergency appeals: Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota."

[Mike Nelson]

6. Maybe he thought ity was the LAURA BUSH case?

sorry!

[JudyM]

7. Bush lauded him as a man of "complete integrity," eh?

as if chimpie is one to know it when he sees it.

[VegasWolf]

9. "integrity" is a word that Cheney told bush to use. bush had to

practice pronouncing it.

[hang a left]

46. However

No one told him the definition. Kind of like sovereignty.

[Straight Shooter]

10. When the vote is unanimous, his vote doesn't carry as much weight.

Until a case involving a major corporation is considered, or some kind of red meat issue for the Repub/fundie base, I'm not going to applaud him for voting on a no-brainer.

[Joe the Revelator]

12. He split with conservatives on this one nt

[Straight Shooter]

13. I've read the article and am trying to discern, was it a unanimous vote?

He and other justices refused to give Missouri permission to speed up plans to execute a man who killed a teenage honor student.

I interpreted that as the justices as a whole. Do you have more info as to how the vote split? Thanks.

[Joe the Revelator]

15. Nah, it looks like it split

New Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito split with the court's conservative Wednesday night, refusing to let Missouri execute a death-row inmate contesting lethal injection.

Alito, handling his first case, sided with inmate Michael Taylor, who had won a stay from an appeals court earlier in the evening. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas supported lifting the stay, but Alito joined the remaining five members in turning down Missouri's last-minute request to allow a midnight execution

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/01/D8FGN8509.html

[Straight Shooter]

17. Well, I'll be damned.

Toss a penny on our side of the scale.

edit: Oops, bad manners. Thank you. :hi:

[VegasWolf]

16. Yes, Drudge is carying it as a split with the right-wing nutcases. The

FReepers are shitting all over themselves.

[Joe the Revelator]

18. You could color me shocked...

I doubt it lasts, but stranger things have happend.

The heat is on him too hard right now to think that it means anything though.

[stop the bleeding]

19. That is what my lady said when I told her about this - thanks for the link

[Joe the Revelator]

20. Here's another link just to cma:

because the freeps are still calling it 9-0


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/02/01/national/w184438S38.DTL

[still_one]

22. please note that he is NOT ruling on capital punishment

but whether lethal injection is cruel and unusual

and that will go before the lower courts

[Joe the Revelator]

24. Its a good start though..

like i said, we;ll know more as it pans out. But LI, in my mind, is pretty C/U so Alito and I agree there.

[still_one]

25. I hope you are right, but I will keep my cynicism

until I see how he rules on seperation of powers, abortion, and wire taps if he is given the opportunity

[Joe the Revelator]

27. I agree nt

[coalition_unwilling]

65. My fantasy? Alito (and not H. Meiers) is the real Manchurian candidate

Heh, heh, heh

[still_one]

67. devious aren't you

[badgerpup]

28. question...

Given that the death penalty does indeed exist...
What form of execution would be less cruel than lethal injection?
Seems to me to be a more 'humane' method than hanging, electric chair, gas chamber or firing squad...

[Psephos]

30. Old age is 100% lethal

just a thought...

[Lyric]

37. I was having this discussion with my partner the other night...

...and we came up with the following scenario:

The inmate is started on strong doses of narcotic pain medications an hour before the execution is scheduled. This would ensure that the inmate is feeling no pain and is in a euphoric state by the appointed execution time, so that the psychological terror of the situation is lessened. If the inmate happens to be allergic to opium-derived narcotics, synthetics (like Dilaudid or Fentanyl) could be used, and vice-versa.

At the scheduled time, the inmate is strapped to a soft, comfortable table. Then an IV is started. A steady but slow drip of the same powerful narcotic is started again. The inmate begins to feel drowsy, and soon slips off to sleep. After the inmate is deeply asleep, the attendants steadily increase the dosage of the narcotic until the condemned person's breathing slowly stops, and the heart stops beating.

That seems like the most humane method of execution we could think of. However, we are still absolutely opposed to the death penalty itself.

[DuaneBidoux]

72. They do something close to this now.

In fact the sentenced individual is given one injection which puts him/her to sleep. This is followed, once the convicted is asleep, by a second injection that stops the heart.

[Lyric]

77. I am aware of the details of lethal injection.

And if the medications are not administered in a foolproof manner *every* time, in proper order, it could potentially be an agonizing and horrific way to die. We all know how good the government is at being mistake-proof.

The first injection is supposed to be a lethal dose of phenobarbitol (causes unconsciousness), the second a fatal dose of a paralyzing agent (like succinyl monocholine chloride) and the third a fatal dose of potassium chloride (which stops the heart). But what if someone mixes up the injections? Or if some sadistic prison employee purposefully and maliciously mislabels the vials?

If someone got the succinyl first instead of the phenobarbitol, they'd be lying there perfectly conscious but unable to breathe or move a single muscle--an onlooker would not be able to tell that the inmate is conscious. If they got the potassium chloride before they became unconscious, it would be nothing short of torture. Potassium chloride is commonly used in hospitals, for patients who are severely ill and dangerously hypokalemic (have low blood potassium). When it must be given via IV, it is ALWAYS heavily diluted, because even relatively small amounts burn like acid in your veins. When my mother developed low blood potassium as a result of her chemotherapy treatments for leukemia, they had to give her potassium chloride via IV. She was literally screaming in agony, and that was after they diluted it *and* dosed her up on morphine. Of all the terrible pain she went through due to the disease and the chemo treatments, she still swears that was the worst pain by far.

When they give that to lethal injection victims, they don't dilute it *at all*. If it's agonizing when it's watered down, imagine how it must feel hitting a vein undiluted.

Not all states use potassium chloride. Some states use only phenobarbitol and a paralyzing agent. The fact that they even *use* a paralyzing agent when they're supposedly giving the condemned people enough phenobarbitol to kill a horse makes me suspect. Pheno is used during surgical procedures to put people under general anesthesia, and they give a MUCH larger dose to condemned inmates than surgical patients get. It should be enough to knock them right out and kill them within minutes, without any other drugs being needed. Why should they also have to be paralyzed? Unless the government is purposefully trying to mask any evidence of inmates who are not being given the medications in the proper order.

A narcotic-based execution would be far more humane. It has the added benefit of being euphoria-inducing (so as to ease the terror) and you can be absolutely assured that there will be no pain involved. Just a peaceful, humane death.

[Posteritatis]

29. Once confirmed, SC justices are more or less bulletproof

So he could make all the horrendously controversial rulings he wanted and there wouldn't be much they could do about it, unless they caught him in bed with a twelve-year-old girl or a chicken or something along those lines. So for good or for ill, we're stuck with him until he retires or keels over.

I'd rather see not-Alito than Alito on the bench from some of the things that I've read; on the other hand, credit where credit is due. At least for this decision, I think he was on the right side.

We'll have to see how future cases go, I suppose.

[superconnected]

63. He's bought by corporations, not by the state of IL.

It's probably more profitable to keep the inmate alive.

[janx]

57. It doesn't mean anything now. He has been confirmed.

In hindsight, it looks as if Bushco painted him as some kind of radical "conservative" to please the radical right-wing base.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

59. "The heat is on him too hard right now to think that it means anything"

What are you talking about?

He's been confirmed. It's a lifetime appointment. He's completely autonomous now and could care less about any "heat" because there is none.

[upi402]

21. i'm such a sucker, i almost have hope

[still_one]

23. I'm a cynic, but wouldn't it be a kick in the pants if he pissed on the

right wingers?

There will be a lot more cases to determine exactly where he stands

[Vogon_Glory]

26. Maybe The Almighty Will Enlighten Him

Maybe the Almighty will enlighten Justice Alito. It would be great fun if he finds himself on the bench, then veers more and more away from his right-wing origins as he gets older.

Just imagine the consternation of the polyester Pharisees and other right wingie-dingies if this comes to pass!

:evilgrin:

[sofa king]

39. It's happened before--Kennedy and Souter ain't goose-stepping, either.

It occurs to me that if Roberts and Scalito both turn out to be moderates, they could wind up canceling out Scalia and Thomas in some cases. If Scalito alone is a moderate, that's still a net loss of one asshole.

Come to think of it, that would be par for the course for the Bush Administration: starting with three conservative judges, promising to add more, having one die, and winding up with none. Nobody should expect good things from the Worst President Ever, not even the knuckle-draggers.

[Hosnon]

61. It's not being a sucker. He has no reason to vote in this way besides

it being what he believes to be correct.

This is a lifetime appointment - he has NO political pressure.

[ProudToBeLiberal]

31. Alito Splits Conservatives on Inmate Vote

Alito Splits Conservatives on Inmate Vote
- By GINA HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, February 1, 2006


(02-01) 19:24 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --


New Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito split with the court's conservatives Wednesday night, refusing to let Missouri execute a death-row inmate contesting lethal injection.


Alito, handling his first case, sided with inmate Michael Taylor, who had won a stay from an appeals court earlier in the evening. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas supported lifting the stay, but Alito joined the remaining five members in turning down Missouri's last-minute request to allow a midnight execution.


Earlier in the day, Alito was sworn in for a second time in a White House ceremony, where he was lauded by President Bush as a man of "steady demeanor, careful judgment and complete integrity."


He was also was given his assignment for handling emergency appeals: Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. As a result, Missouri filed with Alito its request for the high court to void a stay and allow Taylor's execution.

more at...http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/02/01/national/w192311S41.DTL

[JohnLocke]

32. Thanks to Justice Alito!

Wow, that's pretty good!

[johnfunk]

33. Imagine what will happen if Alito takes a sharp turn to the center...

Remember all those ads about Justice Alito "deserv an up or down vote"? If Alito does take that sharp turn, won't they be eating their words -- which means we can remind them every time they whine that Alito was THEIR choice, so quitcherbitchin and shutcherpiehole.

[burrowowl]

34. He is a Roman Catholic

and maybe listens to the Pope on the death penalty.
I would not get my hopes up yet.
Watch how he treats corporations and Unitary Prez crap.

[Lyric]

35. Scalia's Roman Catholic too...

...but we don't see *him* having a crisis of conscience whenever the death penalty comes before the SCOTUS.

The Freepers are freaking. They think they might have another Souter on their hands.

[NashVegas]

36. Roberts, Too, Yes?

Go figure.

[McCamy Taylor]

75. But thery aren't real Catholics. A REAL catholic is anti-death.

[Marie26]

55. We'd be a little embarrased too, though.

The Democrats tried to fillibuster an O'Connor!

[dave29]

43. Boning up his "pro-life" cred

trust me.

[nodehopper]

45. yep.

[wisteria]

40. THE ARTICLE IS MISLEADING- ALITO VOTED WITH THE

LOWER COURT. Sorry for screaming,but I think this is misleading on purpose and people are just fawning over this exageration. There is even a question if he really voted at all.
Sorry for screaming!!!

[onenote]

42. why is there a question? The article seemed pretty clear to me

[wisteria]

44. What article did you read?

The ones I read made it appear he actually cast a liberal vote for the defendant when in fact he just sided with the lower court on a temorary stay. This is by no means a liberal judgement. He supported the court that is all.He decided to back up there decision. As I read it on the US Supreme court site he may not of even voted at all, but handed it up the others on the court.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/13768113.htm.
http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype/archives/2006/02/...

My point is this isn't really a liberal vote nor a vote for the defendant. Case in point, have you heard any chatter from the freepers over this?

[onenote]

50. yes he sided with the lower court. And how was that bad?

The lower court granted a stay of execution. The state appealed to the SCOTUS. The court had two choices: override the lower court stay, which would result in the immediate execution with no further chance for the defendant to argue before the lower court or uphold the lower court, giving the defendant one last chance to present an argument to the lower court. Scalia, Thomas, and Roberts would have reversed the lower court and sent this guy to the executioner without a further hearing. Alito, according to the report, voted to uphold the stay, giving the defendant his last shot at an argument.

Given the choices, why is the one chosen by Alito not the "liberal" choice?

onenote

on edit: I'm not claiming that this one vote suddenly means Alito will be a "Souter". But it does indicate that, at least in this instance, he departed from the conservative bloc on the court.

[deadparrot]

47. He voted against Scalia, Roberts, and Thomas. nt

[npincus]

52. Conservatives are wringing their hands today...

which is more polite to say than "shitting their pants", wondering whether they've replacesd a moderate swing vote with a moderate swing vote.

This siganls that Alito has an independent mind and does not feel compelled to vote with the RW Supreme bloc. However, this is just one vote, with many, mnay more to come over the years. We shall see.

[Marie26]

56. Even so, it shows

he is reluctant to overturn earlier court decisions. That's a good thing, especially concerning Roe v. Wade. Roberts, on the other hand, is looking scarier & scarier every day.

[cosmicone]

48. He may turn out to be a Souter n/t

[pro_blue_guy]

53. Good decision, Mr. Alito

Well if Alito is pro-life (like all of his conservative followers expect him to be) he did make the right deision in this Missouri case.

[redqueen]

58. That would be nice. n/t

[Marie26]

54. This is really, really hopeful

It looks like Alito is joining the 6-3 split on the side of the moderates, as opposed to the Scalia, Roberts, Thomas coalition. This 6-3 split is the same one that existed on the earlier civil liberties cases (Guantanamo, etc.) that have come before the Supreme Court. I think it's kind of funny that Roberts, who seemed so pleasant & reasonable, has actually turned out to be the rabid right-winger. While Alito, who seemed so reactionary & unforthcoming, might turn out to be the reasonable one.

[Hosnon]

60. So when will everyone realize that he is a good judge? nt

[superconnected]

64. His record shows he's bought by corporations.

I'm guessing IL wanted a sudden midnight execution to make more room on death row.

Prisons are big business. It's worth money to keep him alive and bill the state. Who knows why alito voted like he did. But I don't expect him to become a good judge.

Some of his ruling will be agreeable to us. Others will be far worse than anything good he's done. Lood at his environmental corporate record.

[slackmaster]

66. Vote neither reflects conservative bias nor liberal, nor opinion on DP

His vote means he thought state law was applied properly by the lower court that did not allow an expedited execution. Nothing more.

[mike923]

70. So what you are saying is...

he is basing his decision on the law, and not based on his own ideology?

The nerve.

[slackmaster]

73. We have no choice but to give him the benefit of the doubt

:shrug:

Time will tell what kind of justice he really is.

[Just Me]

69. Maybe, my intuition was better than I thought on this guy.

Only time will tell, I guess.

[humbled_opinion]

71. Nothing to this one...

I will hold judgement in reserve pending a case that requires some thought... We will eventually know the truth...

[McCamy Taylor]

74. He voted Catholic. The far Right may be in for a severe let down.

[many a good man]

76. Oh No! He's taking orders from the Pope!

:sarcasm:

[lakeguy]

78. he also refused to deny the execution right?

since it just goes back down to the lower court now.