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The anatomy of a decision Sunday, Nov 6, 2005 By David Sanders Being Washington's center of attention is most often a curse - just ask Scooter Libby. There are times when attracting the attention of everyone inside the beltway can be an enviable position, much like the situation in which Sens. Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln find themselves. The two senators from Arkansas find themselves in familiar territory. The nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the U.S. Supreme Court has put the spotlight on the South's two Democrats who represent Arkansas. Pryor and Lincoln voted to confirm John Roberts to the Supreme Court giving Republicans hope that lightening will strike twice and both of them will support Alito. On Monday the White House began reaching out to moderate Democrats hoping to build support for the president's nominee. Pryor's close association with the 13 senators who broke the stalemate over judicial nominations earlier this year makes him a crucial target and earned him an early appointment with Alito. Pryor has developed his own criteria which hinges on a nominees' credentials and experience, judicial temperament and ability to be impartial. In July, Lincoln approached Roberts' nomination with a sense of deference to Senate Judiciary Committee members, indicating then that she would make up her mind after the confirmation hearings had concluded. With Alito quickly making the rounds on Capitol Hill, Lincoln is a little more vocal this time around and will be supplementing her own judgment with those from folks back home, who she said will figure into how she votes. While Lincoln's decision-making process seems to be a little less defined than that of her colleague, it appears both she and Pryor are well-grounded and should not give into substituting partisan rancor and divisive tirades (fueled by those on the far left) for the mental processes of abstract thinking and reasoning. Alito, like Roberts, has an impressive resume. His long service on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (widely considered a more liberal court), where he has dealt with numerous constitutional issues, along with having prosecutorial experience, should more than satisfy anyone's questions about this nominee's qualifications. As for his judicial temperament, Cass Sunstein, professor of law and political science at the University of Chicago, writes: "None of Alito's opinions is reckless or irresponsible or even especially far-reaching. His disagreement is unfailingly respectful. His dissents are lawyerly rather than bombastic. He does not berate his colleagues ... Nor has Alito proclaimed an ambitious or controversial theory of interpretation. He avoids abstractions." A full reading of Alexander vs. Whitman, a 1997 New Jersey case, shows that Alito, who is considered to be staunchly pro-life, did not seek to inject his personal views into this case. The plaintiff, as stated in the facts of the case, "was then eight and one-half months pregnant, was admitted to the Jersey Shore Medical Center to give birth to her child. The vital signs of Ms. Alexander's baby were taken only fourteen minutes prior to delivery by cesarean section, and the fetus appeared normal and healthy. Tragically, however, the child was stillborn." Alexander asserted a wrongful death claim, but was denied. The 3rd Circuit - with Alito concurring - dismissed a constitutional challenge to the state's "Wrongful Death Act" under the guise that unborn babies are not "persons" under the 14th Amendment - a precedent established in Roe vs. Wade. While not issuing an opinion in Elizabeth Blackwell Health Center for Women vs. Knoll, Alito voted in 1995 to overturn an abortion-related law that required women who sought an abortion through Pennsylvania's Medicaid program whose pregnancy resulted from rape or incest to report the crime committed against them to authorities. Citing a prior Supreme Court decision, Alito also overturned New Jersey's law banning partial-birth abortions in 2000. Yes, there are numerous cases that will need to considered, but Alito has shown himself in at least some cases to ignore his personal views and decide the case on the merits of the law using establish Supreme Court precedents. So where does this leave Arkansas' two senators? I'd say it will be an easy vote. ------- David Sanders writes twice weekly for the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock. His e-mail address is DavidJSanders@aol.com. |
