Could you provide the information about the Democratic opposition to Justices Alito and Roberts? I am curious if you have it?
I'm sure if you did a google of Roberts nomination or Alito's nomination, you'll get plenty.
In a nutshell, the opposition was based primarily on whether or not the various senators could get a "feel" for Robert's or Alito's "underlying values".
Scott suggested google.. so I googled.
I actually couldn't find a single example of opposition because "they couldn't get a 'feel' for Roberts or Alito's 'underlying values.'"
Here's some of what I came up with, there's much, much more out there on google.
Roberts was opposed in part because, working for mining companies, he opposed clean air rules and worked to help coal companies strip-mine mountaintops. He worked with Ken Starr (yes, that Ken Starr), and tried to keep Congress from defending the Voting Rights Act.
Here's another case that caused concern regarding Roberts:
The D.C. Circuit case
Hedgepeth v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority,
386 F.3d 1148, involved a twelve-year-old girl who was, according to the Washington Post, asked if she had any drugs in her possession, searched for drugs, taken into custody, handcuffed, driven to police headquarters, booked and fingerprinted because she violated a publicly-advertised
zero tolerance "no eating" policy in a
Washington D.C. metro station by eating a single
french fry. Roberts wrote for a 3-0 panel affirming a district court decision that dismissed the girl's complaint, which was predicated on the
Fourth and
Fifth Amendments, specifically the claim that an adult would have only received a citation for the same offense, while children must be detained until parents are notified.
On Alito's confirmation:
Democrats were concerned with Alito's stance on many controversial rulings, including the strip search of a 10 year old girl, seizing a dairy farmer's land with force, and the shooting of a 7 year old boy.
Environmental groups were among those opposing Alito because "Judge Alito’s views raise concerns that he would support Commerce Clause challenges by polluters and developers to public health and environmental laws that Americans have relied upon for decades, including the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act the Endangered Species Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act. "
Groups defending disability rights stated:
His vote could place in jeopardy the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Fair Housing Amendments Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and other disability rights statutes.
On the federal appeals court, Judge Alito:
- Ruled that Congress lacked power to enact the FMLA.1 Later, in a similar case, the Supreme Court came to the opposite result.2 It rejected Judge Alito’s reasoning that the FMLA was not an appropriate response to discrimination.
- Dissented when the federal appeals court upheld Congress’ power to ban possession of machine guns.3 His reasoning rejected over 60 years of case law regarding Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce
