Alito defended government wiretap rights

Similar strategy advocated on abortion
The incremental legal strategy is consistent with the approach Alito advocated on chipping away abortion rights. In memos released Friday and last month, Alito said abortion rights should be overturned but recommended a roadmap of dismantling them piece by piece instead of a “frontal assault on Roe v. Wade.”

He said of his plan: “It has most of the advantage of a brief devoted to the overruling of Roe v. Wade; it makes our position clear, does not even tacitly concede Roe’s legitimacy, and signals that we regard the question as live and open.”

The documents were among 45 released by the National Archives Friday as the Christmas weekend approached. A total of 744 pages were made public.

Abortion and the president’s authority on eavesdropping will be central issues when the Senate Judiciary Committee opens confirmation hearings on Alito’s nomination Jan. 9.

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the top Democrat on the committee, said the latest documents “fill in more blanks and deepen the impression of activism that colors Judge Alito’s career” and raise issues critical to the panel.

“One of the most important, and one of the most timely, is the issue of unchecked presidential authority and the particular issue of warrantless eavesdropping on the American people,” Leahy said.

Schumer vows to press nominee
Another committee Democrat, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, released a letter to Alito in which he questioned whether the nominee believes in absolute immunity for the attorney general and other government officials “from suits based on even willful unconstitutional acts.”

Schumer vowed to question Alito on the issue and warned that if he refused to answer questions, it would make it harder for members of the panel to support his confirmation.

Bush picked Alito to take the Supreme Court seat held by Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who is retiring. The federal appellate court judge has been seeking to assure senators that he would put his private views aside when it came time to rule on abortion as a justice. O’Connor has been a supporter of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling affirming a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion.

The June abortion memo contained the same Alito statements as one dated May 30, 1985, which the National Archives released in November — but with a forward note from Reagan administration Solicitor General Charles Fried acknowledging the volatility of the issue and saying it had to be kept quiet.

“I need hardly say how sensitive this material is, and ask that it have no wider circulation,” Fried wrote.

MORE FROM THE CHANGING COURT

The Changing Court Section Front

On first case, Alito splits with right Alito sworn in as Supreme Court justice Alito lends touch of drama to State of Union Analysis: Why Bush won the Alito fight The Changing Court Section Front   Add The Changing Court headlines to your news reader: