Finito to Scalito

Dear Judge Alito (or shall I say "Scalito"?),\nIt seems I have caught you at a very momentous time in your life. Early next year you will begin your hearings for appointment to the Supreme Court. While you are, no doubt, a highly accomplished jurist (you have written about 300 rules and participated in about 1,500 cases), I have some concerns, especially regarding the potential reversal of Roe v. Wade.\nAny preconceived notions regarding your opinion of a woman's choice were decisively put to rest when your mother rather bluntly said, "Of course, he's against abortion." In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, you voted in a dissent to uphold the Pennsylvania law requiring women to inform their husbands before having an abortion.\nIn the 1990s alone, for every two marriages there was one divorce. If this law were actually upheld, basically equating women as men's property, I'm afraid every marriage would result in divorce. While a couple should ideally discuss something as serious as terminating a pregnancy, the final decision ultimately rests with the person experiencing morning sickness, backaches and constant food cravings. \nLuckily, your colleagues didn't agree with you, and the Supreme Court logically struck down this legalized form of slavery, noting that "spousal notification" was an insult to women. Adding this law, it reasoned, would be similar to saying that upon marriage, women lose all their constitutionally protected liberties. In remarks to reporters you said, "Federal judges have the duty to interpret the Constitution and the laws faithfully and fairly to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans ..."\nI guess you don't consider women to be Americans.\nJudge Alito, you very well might be qualified for appointment, but your philosophy is reactionary. Women's rights activists, civil rights activists, gay rights activists or pretty much anyone in favor of equality under the law, are frightened by your antiquated views. Don't you realize that with Roe's reversal, women, especially teenagers and those with a low income, would likely resort to the "back alley" abortions of the pre-Roe era? \nIn some ways, Judge Alito, you have already lost.\nIn nominating you as a Supreme Court justice, it seems Bush has accomplished the impossible: choosing a man who is more conservative than Justice Antonin Scalia. But we must give Bush a little leg room. It also seems that Bush's low approval ratings, the recent indictment hearings, the war in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina have gotten to the president's head. He is in a vulnerable position and simply not thinking in the right state of mind.\nApparently, Bush was never taught that two wrongs don't make a right. As if John Roberts' views on women's rights aren't backward enough, the president nominated you. He chose to divide, not unite, the nation. Unless you step down like Bush's former nominee, Harriet Miers (which I urge you to do), you can tell Americans to kiss their well-earned rights goodbye. \nI hate to break it to you, Samuel, but at this point, Scalia is starting to look rather moderate when benched beside you. And when Scalia and moderate are used in the same sentence, something is very, very wrong.