ACLU Disappointed With Committee Approval of Judge Samuel Alito, Calls on Full Senate To Reject Nominee to Protect Civil Rights and Liberties

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Media@dcaclu.org

ACLU Opposes Nomination of Judge Alito

WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed its disappointment with the party-line approval of the nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. to be the new associate justice on the Supreme Court, and urged the full Senate to reject his confirmation.

The following can be attributed to Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office: “The American people deserve a nominee whose loyalty lies with the Constitution and not the whims of the president. Judge Alito’s record has shown an alarming and undue deference to executive powers. His legal and judicial philosophy shows a jurist who is all too willing to acquiesce to the harmful, and possibly illegal, demands of an executive branch set on extending its reach and power.

“At a time when the president and his surrogates are claiming unprecedented authority to break the rules, the nation’s highest court must uphold our fundamental civil liberties and freedoms, and recognize and sustain the balance of powers essential to our government. Judge Alito would upset that balance, to the detriment of our personal freedoms and privacy.”

Read the ACLU’s statement for the record on Judge Alito