by TChris

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law worries (with good reason) that Judge Alito, if confirmed, would further erode the Supreme Court's willingness to interpret civil rights laws as Congress intended: to benefit victims of discrimination.

During his 15 years on the bench and participation in thousands of cases, Judge Alito has never written an employment discrimination opinion in favor of an African American on the merits of their race claim. Judge Alito attempted to downplay this point by referencing five cases where he was supposedly supportive of race-based claims. However, our research revealed that these five cases do not support the argument made by Judge Alito and his supporters.

The full text of the Lawyers' Committee's Senate testimony is here (pdf).

Update: The commenters at Daily Kos are pretty sure this is a hoax post. If so, I'll be taking it down entirely.

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A poster at Daily Kos reports on a telephone conversation he had with a staffer in Colorado Senator Ken Salazar's office when he called to ask that Salazar join the filibuster against Judge Sam Alito. Here's part of what the poster reports:

If he's so worried about this extreme judge, what's his problem with supporting a filibuster? I asked the staffer that, and then something happened that blew my f**king mind.

He hesitated for a moment, and then said the following:

"I understand your concerns and I feel the same way. The truth is that Senator Salazar has come to a compromise with Dr. James Dobson about an ongoing feud between them. Dr. Dobson has agreed to stop mentioning Senator Salazar in a negative context if he refuses to filibuster Samuel Alito."

I was stunned and speechless, so all I could say was, "What?"

The staffer went on:

"I'm sorry, but that's the truth, and that's why this is my last day working for Senator Salazar."

If this is accurate, it's beyond shocking. Senator Salazar must be asked to confirm or deny it. His phone number is (202) 224-5852.

It's Official. Both Massachussetts senators, John Kerry and Edward Kennedy will attempt a filibuster against Judge Sam Alito. Kudos to them.

PFAW just posted a tool at Save the Court that allows you to customize the message below and fax it to 13 key senators. PFAW also advises that Sen. Bill Frist has laid down the cloture petition which ripens at 4:30 pm Monday.

There's also Senate Phone List here, with numbers to all the Democratic Senators and the key moderate Republicans. There are two toll free numbers - 888-355-3588 or 888-818-6641.

Kerry has written a post at Daily Kos outlining his position.

From Democrats.com:

I have confirmed reports that Kerry wants to filibuster Alito, and he is talking to his colleagues to round up the 41 votes he needs. Only two Democrats (Ben Nelson and Tim Johnson) support Alito. Only two others (Mary Landrieu and Ken Salazar) say they oppose a filibuster, but are expected to vote against Alito.

So right now, without the support of any Republicans, we still have 41 possible votes for a filibuster. There are roughly 6 moderate Republicans who should also be targeted (Lincoln Chafee, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Bob Smith, Olympia Snowe, George Voinovich). And we should work as hard as we can to persuade Landrieu and Salazar that a vote against Alito is meaningless if they don't support a filibuster.

Keep calling the Alito-8. And I'd add, end the tyranny of the gang of 14.

Colorado Senator Ken Salazar says he won't support a filibuster even though he'll vote against Judge Sam Alito. From the National Journal's Hotline (subscription):

Meanwhile, Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) also said 1/25 that he will not support a filibuster, even though "he still plans to vote against" Alito. While Salazar said Alito wasn't the "wisest choice for America," he said "was convinced not to filibuster Alito because of" his "stellar academic record and strong support from his colleagues." Salazar said he does not know whether other Dem "will try to block the vote," but that "if they do, he will call a meeting" of the 'Gang of 14' (Tahelm, AP/Daily Camera, 1/26).

Here's another article with the reference to calling in the gang of 14. Call his office at (202) 224-5852. Salazer has pledged not to support a filibuster unless under "extraordinary circumstances." Let him know you consider Judge Alito to be extraordinary. Perhaps if enough of his constituents demand it, he will change his mind, or at least leave the gang of 14 out of it.

Sen. Russ Feingold today issued a statement explaining his reasons for voting against Judge Sam Alito. Among them (no link yet, received by e-mail:)

To be blunt, Mr. Chairman, I found Judge Alito's answers to questions about the death penalty to be chilling. He focused almost entirely on procedures and deference to state courts, and didn't appear to recognize the extremely weighty constitutional and legal rights involved in any case where a person's life is at stake.

Are the Democrats just going to lie down and take it like the men and women they are rather than those we elected them to be? The New York Times Thursday calls them "in need of a spine." I agree. (I said the same thing the other day about the way they were reacting to Karl Rove's comments, trying to one-up him on being in support of wiretaps, practically begging the Repubs to ask Congress to gut FISA and the 4th Amendment and saying they'd be only to happy to comply.)

Back to Alito and the Times, which notes:

[Alito's] elevation will come courtesy of a president whose grandiose vision of his own powers threatens to undermine the nation's basic philosophy of government -- and a Senate that seems eager to cooperate by rolling over and playing dead.

It is hard to imagine a moment when it would be more appropriate for senators to fight for a principle. Even a losing battle would draw the public's attention to the import of this nomination. ...A filibuster is a radical tool. It's easy to see why Democrats are frightened of it. But from our perspective, there are some things far more frightening. One of them is Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court.

Not surprisingly, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed Judge Sam Alito on for a vote in the full Senate. All Democrats voted against him.The make-up of the Committee, with 10 Republicans and 8 Democratics assured this would be the outcome. Here are excerpts from the hearing this morning at which the vote was taken. The full transcript (html) is here.

Will it be any different in the full Senate? Raw Story reports today that Florida Senator, Democrat Bill Nelson announced he will vote against Alito.

Sen. Bill Frist shows us again how to talk out of both sides of your mouth (via Firedoglake):

Frist, while giving a Senate tour to Republican activists last night:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told Republican Party activists on Friday night that U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito was the "worst nightmare of liberal Democrats."

Frist's spokesman afterwards:

Frist spokesman Bob Stevenson said that Alito "is a thoughtful mainstream conservative jurist who is well respected by his peers, by Democrats and Republicans alike."

Update: Check out Daily Kos' Whip Count.

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Original Post

In a closed meeting of the Democratic caucus Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and Patrick Leahy made the case for rejecting Judge Sam Alito.

As I reported yesterday, Sens. Leahy and Kennedy will be speaking publicly against Alito today.

Kevin Zeese, director of Democracy Rising and an Independent candidate for the U.S. Senate in Maryland, makes an excellent case for filibustering Alito. (received by e-mail.) While I don't think that's a realistic possibility, I hope any Democrats and moderate Republicans considering voting for Alito read his piece first. It just might change their minds.

Yesterday I wrote about Michael Fortier's impending release Friday from prison. He's done with his 12 year sentence--he served 10 1/2 years, 85%. Fortier pleaded guilty to knowing about plans to bomb the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995 and not reporting it to authorities, as well as lesser offenses.

Tonight the Dallas Morning News reports that Fortier, his wife Lori (who received immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony against McVeigh and Nichols) and their children will immediately be whisked off into the Witness Protection program, given new identities and moved to a new location.

This reaction by one of the survivors of the bombing is particularly insightful:

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will announce his decision on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel Alito at 11:00 am Thursday, from the Georgetown University Law Center. The press is invited. His talk is officially titled "The Alito Nomination, The Supreme Court, And Presidential Power." He's expected to oppose Alito.

Sen. Ted Kennedy will announce his opposition to Alito in a speech tomorrow at 1:30 at the Center for American Progress. (received by e-mail.)

So far, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska is the only turncoat. But, several Democrats are up in the air, among them, Carl Levin.