ANALYSIS: Nomination puts abortion at center stage
November 2, 2005
BY JOAN BISKUPIC (USA TODAY)
Detroit Free Press ANALYSIS: Nomination puts abortion at center stage
Alito's record shows discord with Supreme Court WASHINGTON -- When President George W. Bush nominated federal Judge Samuel Alito on Monday to replace Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the potential for change on the high court was clear. A man whose record suggests that he might not favor abortion rights and that he would have a narrow view of protections against sex discrimination was tapped to take over for a woman who has been a key vote for abortion rights and who has generally been sympathetic to such discrimination claims. The departure of O'Connor -- one of six justices on the nine-member court who have backed abortion rights -- is virtually certain to make abortion, and women's rights in general, a focus of Alito's confirmation hearings in the Senate. During the hearings, Alito will be confronted not just with questions about his judicial record, but also with the specter of replacing a historic figure in O'Connor, who has said that she believed her appointment by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 opened doors for other professional women. Much of the talk about Alito's record on the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has concerned his opinion in a 1991 case in which he favored a Pennsylvania law that required women to tell their husbands before having an abortion. The Supreme Court struck down the law as an undue burden on a woman's right to abortion. During his 15 years on the bench, Alito has written or joined several opinions in sex-bias lawsuits. He often has favored a high bar for workers who have sought jury trials for alleged discrimination. Many of the discrimination cases Alito has heard fell under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which protects against job discrimination based on sex and race. In a case involving a female hotel worker who made a claim of sexual harassment and then was demoted, a majority of the 3rd Circuit reversed a lower court's decision favoring the hotel. It said the woman had established enough of a case to bring her claim before a jury. Alito dissented, saying there should be a greater burden placed on workers who make such claims. In another case, Alito wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel that the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which requires employers to give workers time off for family emergencies, did not give state workers a right to sue for money damages when they were denied time off. When the same legal question came to the Supreme Court, the majority said the act allowed state workers to sue their employers. Some critics of Alito's nomination question why Bush chose a white man rather than a woman or a minority. "This is a step back," said Marcia Greenberger of the National Women's Law Center. "Instead of seeing more diversity" on the court "at a time of increasing diversity in the country ... we're seeing less."
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