Approve Alito

The Senate should confirm Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. And since there is no doubt that the Senate Republicans will uniformly vote with approval, what I really mean is that the Senate Democrats should not use the filibuster to prevent Alito's confirmation.\nAlito is a sea change from the recently withdrawn nominee, Harriet Miers. Critics lambasted Miers for a lack of intellect and experience. Miers went to Southern Methodist University for her bachelor's and law degrees; Alito went to Princeton and Yale. Miers has never been a judge in her life; Alito has sat on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for 15 years, a tenure that represents the greatest judicial experience of any Supreme Court nominee in the past 70 years.\nMuch is being made over Alito's conservatism. Some liberals are terrified Alito will replace Sandra Day O'Connor's swing vote with a solid conservative vote that will work to overturn landmark cases such as Roe v. Wade. Such fears are misplaced.\nWhile at Princeton, Alito wrote that "no private sexual act between consenting adults should be forbidden." It seems reasonable to infer that Alito would have voted with the majority in the 2003 Lawrence v. Texas Supreme Court decision that overturned a state law forbidding sodomy. And according to The Associated Press, in 1971 he called for an end to discrimination against homosexuals in hiring.\nAlito has also shown great respect for the practices of minority religions. In a 1999 New Jersey case, he ruled in the favor of two Muslim police officers whose department prevented them from their religious obligation of growing beards. In Blackhawk v. Pennsylvania, he ruled that a Lakota Indian could waive state fees for keeping wildlife because he claimed to derive spiritual powers from two black bears.\nAs for abortion, the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League has focused on an Alito dissent in 1991, where he decided that a law requiring women to notify their husbands of an abortion should be upheld. But this is only one of four abortion cases in which he has ruled. In the other three, he has voted against restricting abortion. Furthermore, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., says Alito told him that he believes in the existence of the right to privacy. The claim that Alito has an agenda to destroy Roe v. Wade is wrong. \nI'm not trying to dress Alito up as a liberal. He clearly is not. But my point is that he is no demon set on destroying liberty. His decisions appear to be rooted in a solid respect for the Constitution and legal precedent. And liberals must realize George W. Bush is about as likely to nominate another Ruth Bader Ginsberg as he is to veto a spending bill.\nA filibuster would be a mistake for two reasons: One, Republicans could enact the nuclear option and vote to eliminate the filibuster, which would be damaging to democracy. And second, it would send a clear message that the political leaning of a candidate is more important than his or her judicial philosophy.\nBeing a conservative is not a reason to disqualify anyone from serving on the bench.