Respected former Dean of U.Chicago Law School changes his mind re: Alito.

[Wordie]

Geoffrey R. Stone is the Harry Kalven, Jr. Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago. From 1987 to 1994 he served as Dean of the University of Chicago Law School and from 1994 to 2002 he served as Provost of the University of Chicago.

Why the Senate Should Not Confirm Samuel Alito

I supported the confirmation of John Roberts and, until recently, the confirmation of Samuel Alito. I have reluctantly come to the conclusion, however, that Judge Alito should not be confirmed, and that this is a matter of real importance to the nation.

Judge Alito is a smart, experienced, and knowledgeable jurist. I have no doubt of his legal ability.
I do not share either his judicial philosophy (apparently a mixture of quasi-originalism and social conservatism) or his views about many issues likely to come before the Supreme Court (ranging from the right to privacy to federalism). In such circumstances, I ordinarily would support his confirmation. On balance, the Senate should give more weight to excellence than judicial philosophy, and that is why I endorsed the confirmation of John Roberts.

Why, then, should the Senate deny confirmation to Judge Alito? The most fundamental responsibility of the Supreme Court is to preserve both the separation of powers and the individual liberties guaranteed by our Constitution. They are the bulwarks of our freedom. History teaches that these indispensable elements of our constitutional system are most threatened in time of war. Too often in wartime, the President demands excessive authority in his role as "commander-in-chief" and the President and Congress run roughshod over civil liberties in their effort to protect, or appear to protect, the nation.

...The single most critical factor that distinguishes the decisions in which the Court failed from those in which it succeeded was the character and constitutional philosophy of the Justices serving at the time. Those Justices who abdicated their responsibility and chose blindly to defer to excessive presidential claims approved the pervasive suppression of dissent during World War I, the Japanese internment, and the rampant abuses of McCarthyism. Those who were determined to ask hard questions and to insist that the President and Congress comply with the Constitution gave the nation the steel seizure decision, the Pentagon Papers decision, and the 2004 decision preserving the due process rights of American citizens.

Now, President Bush arrogantly asserts that he has the inherent constitutional authority to wiretap American citizens on American soil without first obtaining a warrant, in direct defiance of federal legislation and the Fourth Amendment. This is on top of his previous assertions of inherent authority to employ torture, wiretap lawyer-client communications, confine American citizens incommunicado, and close deportation and other legal proceedings from public scrutiny.

Given the times in which we live, we need and deserve a Supreme Court willing to examine independently these extraordinary assertions of executive authority. We can fight and win the war on terrorism without inflicting upon ourselves and our posterity another regrettable episode like the Red Scare and the Japanese internment. But that will happen only if the Justices of the Supreme Court are willing to fulfill their essential role in our constitutional system.

Whatever else Judge Alito may or may not have made clear about his views on such issues as abortion, federalism, and religious freedom, he has certainly made clear that he has no interest in restraining the acts of this commander-in-chief. That, in my judgment, poses a serious threat to the nation, and is a more than adequate reason for the Senate -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- to deny his confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-r-stone/why-the-senate-should-not_b_14229.html

[John Q. Citizen]

1. This is a good sign. I hope this guy has sent letters to all the

Senators about this.

This is very good because it gives even more cover to Dems to filibuster.

[Wordie]

2. Exactly. My hope is that if he can change his mind, maybe a Senator or two

will re-evaluate Alito as well. Wouldn't that be great.

[Dr.Phool]

7. Screw that!!! I'll pay for his airfare and lodging in Washington

Let him walk around and talk to all the Senators who are for confirmation!

[Wordie]

15. Maybe *he* is the one who should talk to Sen. Ben Nelson.

Nelson didn't appear to grasp the reasons that the theory of the unitary executive and signing statements are a threat when he spoke in an interview on C-Span before the hearings this morning. I was saying earlier that somebody with gravitas and who was respected should be the one to talk to Sen. Nelson, to try to change his mind. Maybe this is our guy! Who better to convince Nelson than someone who had originally supported Alito, but realized his error?

But how could somebody like me - hardly a mover and shaker - get an idea like this to whoever it would be who could make it happen?

If anybody has any ideas on this, let me or (far better) somebody who could really do this know, please!

[pat_k]

27. Congress.org makes it easy to sent telegrams and email

You can send email and telegrams via congress.org (See "Extra Impact" for telegrams). The site also provides look up for congress critters and local media.

They also provide links to a staff page for each member of congress. Asking for a staffer (e.g., the Judiciary Legislative Aide) can give your call more powerful (and you can send a copy of your letter directly to their attention).

[bettyellen]

3. K+R + MUCH PROPS to Indy Op

[napi21]

4. I completely agree with this Dean.

I know almost everybody on Du will hate me for saying this, but Roe isn't my biggest concern! If the SC does overturn it, and that's still quite debatable, I think there's enough support for the freedom of choice in most states to get the ruling made almost irrelevant.

The thing that scares me most about Alito is that he is a believer in the unitary executive.

I don't want ANY Executive Branch, no matter who is President, to have more control than the other Branches.

I'm very afraid Alito will try to push his belief of a unitary Executive Branch while he's on the court.

Unfortunately, I'm afraid even a fillibuster won't make any difference.

[pat_k]

28. "unitary executive" is a fascist fantasy -- we need to call it what it is!

You are absolutely right on Roe being the least of our worries!! (excerpt beloe)

But a Filibuster WILL make an enormous difference. It is the difference between our "leaders" being complicit with the fascist or not. Standing up and fighting the good fights attracts support and breeds hope in the citizenry. Hope breed action. A virtuous cycle that will ultimately defeat them.

From http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2388509&mesg_id=2389007

. . . far more is at stake than Roe.

Alito's answer to Biden is incredible.

Every time we (or members of the Senate) fail to utterly and completely reject the irrational notion of a Stalinist "unitary executive" in the United States of America, we legitimize yet another of their fascist fantasies.

I have been a broken record on this in other posts, but as Howard Dean points out, even basic truths require repetition if they are to be internalized by the public.

We do not argue "intelligent design" -- we reject it as Science.

Just as "intelligent design" has no NO PLACE in our Science Classes; their fascist fantasies (like a Stalinist "unitary executive" in our constitutional democracy) have NO PLACE in rational discourse.

We must expose their lunacy by honestly describing what they are talking about (i.e., Ever-Expanding, Un-American, Un-Constitutional, Dictatorial Powers the Bush Syndicate claims allows them to commit any crime with impunity -- torturing, spying, and terrorizing the American people with the most colossal bomb threat in history: Mushroom Clouds over our cities in 45 minutes – just to name a few.)

[RC]

5. I can see it now...

Alito gets voted down and bu$h does a recess appointment of Alito to the High Court. By the time it come to replace Alito, bu$hco will have disbanded the Congress.

[Wordie]

9. I think if he tried a recess appointment of a SC Justice he'd be impeached

for sure. He's skating on thin ice as it is. I don't even know if he can do recess appointments for a post that elevated. Can he?

[pat_k]

29. Recess appointments expire

You are right on one thing. They are capable of ANYTHING. But, what the fascists do is irrelevant to what our "leaders" MUST do!

If our "leaders" don't start acting the part and fight with everything they've got, they are complicit with the fascists.

With every fight, the fascist's arrogant reaction exposes them for what they are. Should Bush overrule Congress to appoint rejected SCOTUS nominations, he only gives us further proof of the nature of his Regime.

When we purge the fascists, a key step in re-creating our constitutional democracy is to Impeach the felonious five for the criminal Bush v. Gore edict (yes, even posthumously). We can restore rationality to the court.

[lady lib]

6. I hope this gets read on the floor of the Senate. n/t

[JerseygirlCT]

8. keeping this kicked nt

[mom cat]

10. This is huge...Thanks.

:woohoo:

[Ferretherder]

11. Uh, that's 'Hugh', my friend.

Please keep abreast of your 'Freeper-speak'!

[mom cat]

13. Duh.... Bedtime for dyslexics! Goodnight.

[necso]

12. "...to deny his confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States."

I read this as calling for taking whatever measures there are to take (regardless of the author's intentions).

Defending the Constitution, that is, the separation of powers and the guarantee of individual liberties is the (primary) issue (that is, defending the very heart of the Constitution)... And it appears to be a most timely one.

"That dared the knife and took the blade."

[Wordie]

21. Music to my ears... nt

[pat_k]

26. We expect our armed service members to risk death to fulfill their oath.

We expect the men and women of our armed services to risk life and limb to fulfill their oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Every member of Congress takes the same oath. We will not tolerate dereliction of duty.

[BadgerKid]

14. Dare one say that....

the mere idea of unitary executive is unpatriotic?

[mwb970]

16. I'd say so.

In the sense that it involves replacing our system of government with another, without the consent of the governed. This should not happen in a democracy.

[meow2u3]

18. I second that--in spades!

Unitary executive is nothing but a fancy phrase which effectively kills democracy dead, replacing the rule of law with the rule of the lawless.

[Sydnie]

20. I noses out "We the People" in this perfect usion for sure! n/t

[pat_k]

30. One dare. . .and one needs to go much further. Posts #16, #18 and 28. n/t

[Occulus]

17. Looks like someone's been reading his history books. n/t

[Erika]

19. If Alito is confirmed, the GOP will live to regret it themselves

He sees the Court as only an extension of the executive branch. The far right wingers have taken over the party and has set a group of radicals into important and long term positions.

The moderate republicans will see how they ---- in their own nest by voting for W and the reps who will help him in his radical agenda.

[Wordie]

22. Yeah, they won't like expanded presidential powers when a Dem is prez.nt

[pat_k]

25. The Constitution has been in Breach since Jan 6th, 2001 -- In their arroga

In their arrogance, they have NO Doubt that they can hold onto, and increase, their dictatorial power indefinitely.

Alito is just another brick in the invincible wall of fascism they believe they can build.

Of course, we CAN stop them.

[pat_k]

23. Oppoing the Filibuster = Supporting Alito

Voting NO on the floor won't stop Alito, it's a sham opposition.

A wimpy "protest vote" if they have more than 41 who claim to oppose Alito, is the height of cowardly hypocrisy, worthy of the disdain it will be viewed with from across the political spectrum.

Each member of principle must do everything in their power to stop the nomination from going to the floor. As mikelewis points out, every Senator that votes against ending debate is a hero (and I say all who vote against cloture are goats and weasels -- and we need to do everything in our power to get them out.)

The only vote we care about is the cloture vote.

Roe is the least of our worries.

The Constitution of the United States of America has been in breach since January 6th, 2001. Alito will join the other fascist henchmen to make sure it stays that way.

The Number 1 truth they need to hear: Filibuster is the ONLY Moral Option.

An OFFICE VISIT has enormous power. Where are your Senators' local offices?. Can you get there? If so, deliver a letter. Ask to talk to staff. Find a friend to go with if you feel intimidated.

To win -- however you make contact, but particularly if you visit -- invoke moral principles and self-evident truths, NOT legalisms. As an ordinary citizen you cut through the propaganda they are immersed in.

Other Points You May Find Useful
(If only to strengthen your own resolve)

• The fascist fantasies they invoke to convince us their crimes are not crimes must be rejected out of hand. Their fantasies -- like a Stalinist "unitary executive" in America -- are NOT ideas to be "argued on the merits." They are fantasies that must be rejected out of hand; they have no place in the realm of rational discourse


• The NUMBER 1 problem the Democrats have is that the nation views them as weak. Fighting the critical battles WITH EVERYTHING THEY'VE GOT proves strength, conviction, and courage. Failure to stand up proves impotence, equivocation, cowardice. The choice is black and white.


• Alito must be rejected to on principle -- American principle vs Fascist principle.
  It is lunacy to think the constitution gives (or even might give) the President the power to flagrantly violate the collective will of the people codified in the acts and resolutions passed by our Congress.


• Alito told us everything we need to know about him when he offered his standard response -- that he couldn't offer an opinion; that he'd figure it out if it came to the Supreme Court -- to the hypothetical case Sen. Biden posed. (If We the People, through our representatives in the Senate and House, passed a resolution prohibiting the President from ordering any sort of attack on Iran, could the President ignore our will and order Bombs to be dropped on Iran?)


• Like the child who knew the emperor had no clothes, ordinary citizens see the truth. They know that such absolute power is NEVER freely given to a leader; it is only taken by deception or force.


• Alito is emblematic of the ever-expanding dictatorial powers claimed by the Bush Syndicate. The fight to keep Alito off the Court is our Normandy in the fight to purge the fascists and repair our broken constitutional democracy.


• If any of Member of the Senate erroneously believes that standing up risks their transient position as 1/100th in the deliberative legislative body we established, they just need to compare that risk to a lifetime appointment on the court.


• We expect the men and women of our armed services to risk life and limb to fulfill their oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Every member of Congress takes the same oath. We will not tolerate dereliction of duty.

[pat_k]

24. Kicked and rec'd! (This one is worthy of MORE votes) n/t

[Wordie]

31. I've been mailing off a link to this article to Senators. I'd like to

request that others do so, too.

Thanks!

[Czolgosz]

32. K & R -- This man is a genius!

[robertpaulsen]

33. Bravo! Another K & R!

:kick: