While on the subject of SCOTUS nominees, I’ve frankly been a
bit surprised, given so much focus on the newest nom’s nickname (“Scalito”) that more political hay hasn’t been made of his 20-year friendship
with another
Back in 1987, the same year that
Three years later, President George H.W. Bush gave a boost
to both Alito’s and Chertoff’s careers, naming Alito to the Third Circuit,
where he has served to this day, and Chertoff to be his successor as U.S.
Attorney for
They nearly always ruled together, which perhaps isn’t so
remarkable as one of the notable cases where they disagreed. In 2004’s Doe v.
Groody, Chertoff wrote the majority opinion that held the strip search of a
10-year-old and her mother, in a drug case where police had a warrant only to
search a man and his home, constituted a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Alito's dissent held that, since the girl and her mom were “in”
the house to be searched, any part of their persons was also fair game.
Now, obviously, if having a personal history with members of the nominating administration were sufficient grounds for exclusion, there isn’t a judge out there who would pass the test. But as cases reach the high court – as they almost certainly will, eventually – challenging the Patriot Act, which Chertoff wrote, or the government’s handling of Hurricane Katrina, which he had a big hand in bungling, is Sam Alito really the guy I want deciding those matters?
As we say in the
Alito's mother is named, I kid you not, Rose Alito:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15522002&BRD=1697&PAG=461&dept_id=44551&rfi=6
Posted by: nalgene | November 06, 2005 at 10:48 AM