Judge Alito: Let the Borking Begin

The Raw Story has reprinted the text of the speech that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada will give this morning on the floor of the Senate. It is worth a read but here are some pertinent parts:

We don’t have to guess whether Judge Alito’s description of himself in that memo would predict what kind of judge he would be. For the past fifteen years, Judge Alito has been one of the most conservative federal judges in the country... For example, in civil rights cases he has often dissented to argue for higher barriers to recovery for people with claims of discrimination. In Bray v. Marriott Hotels, his colleagues said Title VII of the Civil Right Act “would be eviscerated” if Judge Alito’s approach were followed. In Nathanson v. Medical College of Pennsylvania, he dissented in a disability rights case where the majority said: “few if any Rehabilitation Act cases would survive” if Judge Alito’s view were the law. And in Sheridan v. DuPont, he was the only one of 11 judges on the court who would apply a higher standard of proof in a sex discrimination case.

In another area of the law, Judge Alito has been quick to limit the authority of Congress, when it is working to help people with real problems.. In Chittester v. Department of Community Development he held that the Constitution did not allow a state employee to enforce the Family and Medical Leave Act. The Supreme Court effectively repudiated that view three years later in the Hibbs case from my own State of Nevada.

Note that there is no mention of Roe in the comments. I could offer conjecture about why that is, but having been lectured on my ridiculous assessment of the political maneuvering that led to the withdrawal of Harriet Myers, I won't. You do that.