Judging a justice

Reject\nThe United States should be moving forward, not backward, in the struggle for gender equality. If Samuel Alito is confirmed as Supreme Court justice, the progress generations of women before us made could be reversed. \nIn a 1985 job application letter, Alito described himself as a staunch conservative committed to President Reagan and helping his administration argue against a constitutional right to abortion. Recent decisions show Alito maintains these attitudes, proving himself to be a stark contrast to the justice he would replace, Sandra Day O'Connor. He has a record of hostility toward guarantees of privacy and reproductive rights, religious freedom, protection of the environment and equal opportunity for women and minorities. Marcia Greenberger, co-president of the National Women's Law Center, put it perfectly: "In nominating Judge Alito, President Bush has chosen someone who threatens the very existence of core legal rights that Americans, especially women, have relied on for decades." \nI fear for the future of our nation: The combination of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito would push the court so far to the right that our basic, fundamental rights would be in great danger.