Statement by Ralph G. Neas
President, People For the American Way
With the future of the Supreme Court on the line, the confirmation hearings were a chance for America to learn what kind of justice Samuel Alito might be. But he didn’t want to tell us. For three days he refused to answer direct questions, offered evasive answers, and failed to resolve questions about his credibility.
Judge Alito’s record includes a well-documented hostility to a woman’s constitutional right to choose, a clear pattern of siding against individuals and for powerful institutions, and a troubling willingness to look the other way in the face of abuses of power by the president and other government agencies and officials.
Judge Alito came into the confirmation hearings with the difficult burden of demonstrating that, in spite of his record to the contrary, Americans would be able to count on him to uphold their rights, legal protections, and access to justice. He failed to meet that burden.
The evidence is stronger than ever that Judge Alito should not be confirmed to our nation’s highest court. More than one million Americans have already taken a stand, and that’s just a start. The fight has just begun.
For more information about Samuel Alito’s record and the opposition to his confirmation, see www.SaveTheCourt.org