Samuel Alito Explained

Samuel Alito
Office:	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Term Start:	January 31, 2006
Nominator:	George W. Bush
Predecessor:	Sandra Day O'Connor
Office1:	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Term Start1:	April 30, 1990
Term End1:	January 31, 2006
Nominator1:	George H. W. Bush
Predecessor1:	John Joseph Gibbons
Successor1:	Joseph A. Greenaway Jr.
Office2:	United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey
Predecessor2:	Thomas Greelish
Nominator2:	Ronald Reagan
Term Start2:	December 10, 1987
Term End2:	April 30, 1990
Successor2:	Michael Chertoff
Office3:	Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel
President3:	Ronald Reagan
Term Start3:	1985
Term End3:	1987
Birth Name:	Samuel Anthony Alito Jr.
Birth Date:	1 April 1950
Birth Place:	Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.
Children:	2
Education:	Princeton University (BA) Yale University (JD)
Signature:	Samuel Alito signature.svg
Signature Alt:	Cursive signature in ink
Allegiance:	United States
Serviceyears:	1972–1980
Rank:	Captain
Unit:	Signal Corps (Reserve)

Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. (; born April 1, 1950) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated to the high court by President George W. Bush on October 31, 2005, and has served on it since January 31, 2006. After Antonin Scalia, Alito is the second Italian American justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Alito was raised in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, and was educated at Princeton University and Yale Law School. After graduating from law school, he worked as an assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel and served as the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. In 1990, Alito was appointed as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, where he served until joining the Supreme Court. He has called himself a "practical originalist" and is a member of the Supreme Court's conservative bloc.

Alito has written majority opinions in the landmark cases McDonald v. Chicago (2010), Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014), Janus v. AFSCME (2018), and Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022).

Early life and education

Alito was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He was the son of Samuel A. Alito Sr., a Calabrian immigrant from Roccella Ionica, Calabria, and Rose Fradusco, an Italian-American whose parents came from Palazzo San Gervasio in Basilicata.^{[1] [2] [3]} Alito's father earned a master's degree at Rutgers University and was a high school teacher and later the first director of the New Jersey Office of Legislative Services, a state government position he held from 1952 to 1984. Alito's mother was a schoolteacher.^[4]

Alito grew up in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, a suburb of Trenton.^[5] He attended Steinert High School, where he graduated in 1968 as the class valedictorian,^[6] subsequently matriculating at Princeton University. In 1972, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.^[7] His senior thesis, supervised by political scientist Walter F. Murphy, was entitled "An Introduction to the Italian Constitutional Court".^[8]

At Princeton, Alito chaired a student conference in 1971 called "The Boundaries of Privacy in American Society", which supported curbs on domestic intelligence gathering and anticipated the need for a statute and a court to oversee national security surveillance.^[9] The conference report itself also called for the decriminalization of sodomy, and urged for an end to discrimination against gays in hiring by employers. Alito also led the American Whig-Cliosophic Society's Debate Panel during his time at Princeton.^[10] He avoided Princeton's eating clubs, joining Stevenson Hall instead.^[11]

In December 1969, while a sophomore at Princeton, Alito received a low lottery number of 32 in the Selective Service drawing. He became a member of the school's Army ROTC program.^[12] Alito was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve in 1972. He began his military duty after graduating from law school in 1975 and served on active duty from September to December while attending the Signal Officer Basic Course at Fort Gordon, Georgia. Alito was promoted to first lieutenant and captain, and completed his service obligation as a member of the inactive reserve before being honorably discharged in 1980.^[12]

At Princeton, Alito was "almost alone" in his familiarity with the writings of John Marshall Harlan II^[13] and was much influenced by the course on constitutional interpretation taught by Walter F. Murphy, also his faculty adviser.^[13] During his senior year at Princeton, Alito moved out of New Jersey for the first time to study in Italy, where he wrote his thesis on the Italian legal system.^[14] Graduating in 1972, Alito left a sign of his aspirations in his yearbook, which said that he hoped to "eventually warm a seat on the Supreme Court".^[15]

Alito then attended Yale Law School, where he served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal and earned a Juris Doctor in 1975.^[7]

Early legal career

After graduating from law school, Alito clerked for Third Circuit appeals judge Leonard I. Garth in Newark, New Jersey, in 1976 and 1977.^[14] He interviewed with Supreme Court Justice Byron White for a clerkship but was not hired.^[16] Between 1977 and 1981, Alito was Assistant United States Attorney, District of New Jersey.^[17] There, he served under the then-chief of the appeals division Assistant U.S. Attorney, Maryanne Trump Barry (Barry, the eldest sister of Donald Trump, later became a federal judge).^[18] While an Assistant U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, he prosecuted many cases involving drug trafficking and organized crime.^[19]

From 1981 to 1985, Alito was Assistant to U.S. Solicitor General Rex E. Lee. In that capacity he argued 12 cases before the Supreme Court for the federal government.^[20] In Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (1986), the Supreme Court ruled against Charles Fried after he rejected a memo by Alito urging the Solicitor General to avoid directly attacking the constitutional right to an abortion.^[21] Alito lost only two of the cases he argued before the Supreme Court.^[22]

From 1985 to 1987, Alito was Deputy Assistant Attorney General under Charles J. Cooper in the Office of Legal Counsel during the tenure of Attorney General Edwin Meese. John F. Manning worked under Alito there.^[11] Between 1986 and 1987, Alito authored nearly 470 pages of memoranda, in which he argued for expanding his client's law enforcement and personnel authorities.^[23] In his 1985 application for Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Alito espoused conservative views, naming William F. Buckley, Jr., the National Review, Alexander Bickel, and Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign as major influences. He also expressed concern about Warren Court decisions in the areas of criminal procedure, the Establishment Clause, and reapportionment.^[24]

From 1987 to 1990, Alito was the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey.^[25] When he arrived, the office had begun the prosecution of 20 defendants accused of being mob affiliates of Anthony Accetturo.^[26] In August 1988, the two-year trial, then the longest federal criminal trial in history, ended in the acquittal of all 20 after less than two days of jury deliberations.^[27] Alito soon hired Michael Chertoff as his chief deputy.^[27]

After an FBI agent was shot in the line of duty in 1988, Alito personally handled the trial, assigning himself the then-novice Stuart Rabner as an assistant, and securing the shooter's conviction.^[27] In March 1988, Alito sought a rehearing of extradition proceedings against two Indian men, represented by Ron Kuby, who were accused of being terrorist assassins, after Alito discovered that the death threats his prosecutor, Judy G. Russell, had received had been sent to her by herself.^[28] The prosecutor was later found not guilty of obstruction of justice by reason of insanity, after psychiatrists found she may have suffered from schizophrenia, with up to four distinct personalities.^{[27] [29]} In 1989, Alito prosecuted a member of the Japanese Red Army for planning a terrorist bombing in Manhattan.^[30]

Alito is a member of the Federalist Society,^[31] a group of conservative and libertarian lawyers and legal students interested in conservative legal theory.^[32]

Court of Appeals judge

Nomination and confirmation

Third Circuit Judges Leonard I. Garth, for whom Alito clerked, and Maryanne Trump Barry, under whom Alito worked as an assistant U.S. Attorney, recommended Alito's judicial nomination to President George H. W. Bush. On February 20, 1990, Bush nominated Alito to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, to a seat vacated by John Joseph Gibbons. The American Bar Association rated Alito "Well Qualified" at the time of his nomination. He was confirmed by unanimous consent in the Senate on April 27, 1990,^{[33] [34]} and received his commission three days later. As a Third Circuit judge, his chambers were in Newark, New Jersey.

Notable opinions

Abortion

• On a Third Circuit panel, the majority in Planned Parenthood v. Casey overturned one part of a law regulating abortion, the provision mandating that married women first inform their husbands if they sought an abortion. Alito, the third judge on the panel, disagreed, arguing that he would have upheld the spousal notification requirement along with the rest of the law.

Federalism

• A dissenting opinion in United States v. Rybar, 103 F.3d 273 (3d Cir. 1996), arguing that a U.S. law banning private citizens from owning submachine guns was similar to one struck down by the Supreme Court in United States v. Lopez and thus outside the authority of Congress under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
• A majority opinion in Chittister v. Department of Community & Economic Development, 226 F.3d 223 (3d Cir. 2000). This case concerned an employee's claim of wrongful termination under the Family and Medical Leave Act against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. States are free to maintain sovereign immunity under the U.S. Constitution. Since Pennsylvania had maintained its immunity to such suits, Alito affirmed the lower court's dismissal of the employee's claims.

First Amendment

• A majority opinion in Saxe v. State College Area School District, 240 F.3d 200 (3d Cir. 2001), holding that a public school district's anti-harassment policy was unconstitutionally overbroad and therefore violated First Amendment guarantees of free speech.
• A majority opinion in ACLU v. Schundler, 168 F.3d 92 (3d Cir. 1999), holding that a government-sponsored holiday display consisting solely of religious symbols was impermissible, but that a mixed display including both secular and religious symbols was permissible if balanced in a generally secular context.
• A dissenting opinion in C. H. v. Oliva (3d Cir. 2000), arguing that the removal and subsequent replacement in "a less conspicuous spot" of a kindergartener's religious themed poster was, at least potentially, a violation of his right to free expression.

Fourth and Eighth Amendments

• A dissenting opinion in Doe v. Groody, arguing that qualified immunity should have protected police officers from a finding of having violated constitutional rights when they strip-searched a mother and her ten-year-old daughter while carrying out a search warrant that authorized the search of a residence.
• A unanimous opinion in Chadwick v. Janecka (3d Cir. 2002), holding that there was "no federal constitutional bar" to the "indefinite confinement" of a man imprisoned for civil contempt because he would not pay his $2.5 million debt to his wife.

Civil rights

• A unanimous opinion in Williams v. Price, 343 F.3d 223 (3d Cir. 2003), granting a writ of habeas corpus to a black state prisoner after state courts had refused to consider the testimony of a witness who stated that a juror had uttered derogatory remarks about blacks during an encounter in the courthouse after the conclusion of the trial.^[35]
• A dissenting opinion in Glass v. Philadelphia Electric Company, 34 F.3d 188 (3rd Cir. 1994), arguing that a lower court did not abuse its discretion in excluding certain evidence of past conduct that defendant had created a hostile and racist work environment.
• A majority opinion in Robinson v. City of Pittsburgh, 120 F.3d 1286 (3rd Cir. 1997), rejecting a female police officer's Equal Protection-based sexual harassment and retaliation claims against the city and certain police officials and rejecting her Title VII-based retaliation claim against the city, but allowing her Title VII-based sexual harassment claim against the city.

U.S. Supreme Court

Nomination and confirmation

See main article: Samuel Alito Supreme Court nomination.

On July 1, 2005, Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement from the Supreme Court effective upon the confirmation of a successor. President George W. Bush first nominated John Roberts to the vacancy, but when Chief Justice William Rehnquist died on September 3, Bush withdrew Roberts's nomination to fill O'Connor's seat and instead nominated Roberts to the Chief Justiceship. On October 3, Bush nominated Harriet Miers to replace O'Connor. Miers withdrew her acceptance of the nomination on October 27 after encountering widespread opposition.

On October 31, Bush announced that he was nominating Alito to O'Connor's seat, and he submitted the nomination to the Senate on November 10.^[36] Alito was unanimously rated "well qualified" to fill the Associate Justice post by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary, which measures the professional qualifications of a nominee.^[37] The committee rates judges as "not qualified", "qualified", or "well qualified".^[38] Leonard Leo was selected to play a role in shepherding Alito's appointment through the Senate.^[39]

Alito's confirmation hearing was held from January 9 to 13, 2006. Two active-duty members of the Third Circuit, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry and Chief Judge Anthony J. Scirica, testified in Alito's confirmation hearing, as did five senior and retired circuit judges.^[40] Alito responded to some 700 questions over 18 hours of testimony. He rejected the use of foreign legal materials in the Constitution, did not state a position on cameras in courtrooms (he had supported them while on the 3rd Circuit), said Congress could choose to outlaw LGBT employment discrimination in the United States if it wished, and told then-Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) that he endorsed a weak version of the unitary executive theory.^[41]

On January 24, his nomination was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 10–8 party line vote. Democratic Senators characterized Alito as a hard-right conservative in the mold of Clarence Thomas or Robert Bork. Alito professed reluctance to commit to any type of ideology, stating he would act as an impartial referee. He said he would look at abortion with an open mind but would not state how he would rule on Roe v. Wade if that decision were to be challenged.

Democrats on the committee asked Alito about his past association with the conservative group Concerned Alumni of Princeton.^[42] Alito said that he had listed an affiliation with the group on his application to Ronald Reagan's Justice Department in order to establish his conservative credentials: "You have to look at the question that I was responding to and the form that I was filling out... I was applying for a position in the Reagan administration. And my answers were truthful statements, but what I was trying to outline were the things that were relevant to obtaining a political position."^[43] But during the confirmation hearings, he disavowed the group, whose views were criticized as racist and sexist, saying: "I disavow them. I deplore them. They represent things that I have always stood against and I can't express too strongly."

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) formally opposed Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court. The ACLU has only taken this step three other times in its entire history, opposing the nominations of William Rehnquist, Robert Bork, and Brett Kavanaugh.^[44] In releasing its report^[45] on Alito, ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said, "At a time when our president has claimed unprecedented authority to spy on Americans and jail terrorism suspects indefinitely, America needs a Supreme Court justice who will uphold our precious civil liberties. Alito's record shows a willingness to support government actions that abridge individual freedoms."^[46]

Debate on the nomination began in the full Senate on January 25. After a failed filibuster attempt by Senator John Kerry, the Senate confirmed Alito to the Supreme Court on January 31 by a vote of 58–42.^[47] All Senate Republicans voted in favor of confirmation except Lincoln Chafee, and all Senate Democrats voted against confirmation except Tim Johnson, Robert Byrd, Kent Conrad, and Ben Nelson. An Independent, Jim Jeffords, voted against confirmation.^{[48] [49]} Alito was sworn in as an associate justice of the Supreme Court later that day.^{[50] [51]} He became the 110th justice, the second Italian-American,^{[52] [53]} the 11th Catholic in the history of the Supreme Court, the fifth Catholic on the Court at the time he assumed office, and one of six on the Court as of 2024.^{[54] [55]}

Because Alito joined the Court mid-term, he did not participate in the decisions of most of the early cases in the Court term because he had not heard arguments for them. These decisions were released with an 8-member Court; none were 4–4, so Alito would not have been the deciding vote in any of them if he had participated. Only three of these cases – Garcetti v. Ceballos, Hudson v. Michigan, and Kansas v. Marsh – were reargued since a tie needed to be broken.

Tenure

Alito delivered his first written Supreme Court opinion on May 1, 2006, in Holmes v. South Carolina, a case involving the right of criminal defendants to present evidence that a third party committed the crime. From the beginning of the Rehnquist Court to the nomination of Justice Elena Kagan, each new justice has been given a unanimous opinion to write as their first Supreme Court opinion; this practice is designed to help "break in" new justices so that each justice has at least one unanimous, uncontroversial opinion under their belt.^{[56] [57]} Alito wrote for a unanimous court in ordering a new trial for Bobby Lee Holmes due to South Carolina's rule that barred such evidence based on the strength of the prosecution's case, rather than on the relevance and strength of the defense evidence itself. His other majority opinions in his first term were in Zedner v. United States, Woodford v. Ngo, and Arlington Central School District Board of Education v. Murphy.

In his first term, Alito compiled a fairly conservative record. For example, in the three reargued cases (Garcetti v. Ceballos, Hudson v. Michigan and Kansas v. Marsh), Alito created a 5–4 majority by voting with the four other conservative Justices – Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, and Clarence Thomas. He further voted with the conservative wing of the court on Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon^[58] and Rapanos v. United States. Alito also dissented in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld alongside Justices Scalia and Thomas.

Alito delivered the Supreme Court Historical Society's 2008 Annual Lecture, "The Origin of the Baseball Antitrust Exemption". The lecture was published in two journals.^{[59] [60]}

In 2013, political scientists Alito "one of the most conservative justices on the Court".^[61] While his voting record is conservative, he does not always join the opinions of the Court's other conservative justices. On February 1, 2006, in Alito's first decision on the Supreme Court, he voted with the majority (6–3) to refuse Missouri's request to vacate the stay of execution issued by the Eighth Circuit for death-row inmate Michael Taylor. Justices Roberts, Scalia and Thomas were in favor of vacating the stay; Missouri had twice asked the justices to lift the stay and permit the execution.^[62] Moreover, despite having been at one time nicknamed "Scalito", Alito's views have differed from those of Scalia (and Thomas), as in the Michael Taylor case and various other cases of the 2005 term. A fierce critic of reliance on legislative history in statutory interpretation, Scalia was the only member of the Court in Zedner v. United States not to join a section of Alito's opinion that discussed the legislative history of the statute in question. In two higher-profile cases, one involving the constitutionality of political gerrymandering and one involving campaign finance reform (LULAC v. Perry and Randall v. Sorrell), Alito adopted narrow positions, declining to join the bolder positions advanced by either philosophical side of the Court. According to a SCOTUSblog analysis of 2005 term decisions, Alito and Scalia concurred in the result of 86% of decisions in which both participated, and concurred in full in 75%.^[63] Alito also differed from Scalia in applying originalism flexibly to arrive at conservative outcomes "with plodding consistency", rather than following it so strictly as to occasionally produce outcomes unfavorable to conservatives.

Alito's majority opinion in the 2008 worker protection case Gomez-Perez v. Potter cleared the way for federal workers who experience retaliation after filing age discrimination complaints to sue for damages. He sided with the liberal bloc of the court, inferring protection against retaliation in the federal-sector provision of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act despite the lack of an explicit provision concerning retaliation.

Alito joined Thomas in writing a separate dissent in Obergefell v. Hodges.^{[64] [65] [66]} In 2020, Alito wrote a dissent joined by Thomas to Bostock v. Clayton County, arguing that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not prohibit discrimination by sexual orientation or gender identity and criticizing the majority's interpretation of Title VII.^{[67] [68]} In October 2020, Alito agreed with the other justices on the denial of an appeal filed by Kim Davis, a county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

On November 12, 2020, Alito made headlines for comments about the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking to the Federalist Society, Alito criticized what he called the "loss of individual liberties", saying, "We have never before seen restrictions as severe, extensive and prolonged as those experienced for most of 2020" and calling the pandemic "a Constitutional stress test".^[69]

Alito has called himself a "practical originalist"^[70] and is a member of the Court's conservative bloc.^[71] He has been described as one of the Court's "most conservative justices".^{[72] [73] [74] [75]}

According to The New Yorker, since the 2020 appointment of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Alito has become "the embodiment of a conservative majority that is ambitious and extreme", overruling progressive precedents from the 1960s and '70s that were previously out of conservatives' reach.^[76]

Alito drew controversy in June 2024 when a filmmaker who had been posing as a conservative posted a secret recording in which he could be heard agreeing with her assertion that Christians should win "the moral argument" against the Left and return the country to "a place of godliness".^{[77] [78]}

Abortion jurisprudence

In 2003, Congress passed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which led to a lawsuit in the case of Gonzales v. Carhart. The Court had previously ruled in Stenberg v. Carhart that a state's ban on partial birth abortion was unconstitutional because such a ban did not have an exception in the case of a threat to the health of the mother. The membership of the Court changed after Stenberg, with Roberts and Alito replacing Rehnquist (a dissenter in Roe) and O'Connor (a supporter of Roe) respectively. Further, the ban at issue in Gonzales v. Carhart was a federal statute, rather than a state statute as in the Stenberg case.

On April 18, 2007, the Supreme Court handed down a decision ruling the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act constitutional. Kennedy wrote for the five-justice majority that Congress was within its power to generally ban the procedure, although the Court left open the door for as-applied challenges. Kennedy said that the challenged statute was consistent with the Court's prior decisions in Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and Stenberg v. Carhart.

Alito joined fully in the majority, as did Roberts. Thomas filed a concurring opinion, joined by Scalia, contending that the Court's prior decisions in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey should be reversed, and also noting that the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act may exceed the powers of Congress under the Commerce Clause. Alito, Roberts, and Kennedy did not join that assertion. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter, Stephen Breyer, and John Paul Stevens dissented, contending that the ruling ignored Supreme Court abortion precedent.

On May 2, 2022, Politico published a leak of a first draft of a majority opinion by Alito that circulated among the justices in February 2022 for the upcoming decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The opinion would overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and would likely either severely restrict access to abortion or make it completely illegal in states with trigger laws.^[79] On June 24, 2022, the ruling was handed down. It was mostly identical to the leaked draft, with the addition of replies to the dissenting and concurring opinions. Alito wrote that "Roe was egregiously wrong from the start", that its reasoning was "exceptionally weak" and that, "far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue", it had "enflamed debate and deepened division".^[80] In July 2022, Alito gave his first public comments on the ruling in a keynote address for Notre Dame Law School's Religious Liberty Initiative in Rome. He mocked several foreign leaders for criticizing the decision, particularly U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, referencing his pending resignation, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, who had compared the ruling to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.^{[81] [82]} During an October 2022 talk at The Heritage Foundation, Alito said that the leaked opinion made some justices "targets for assassination", referring to the assassination attempt on fellow Justice Brett Kavanaugh during that year.^[83] At the same event, he said that "questioning [the Court's] integrity crosses an important line", which many media commentators interpreted as criticism of Kagan's recent statements on the court's overturning of precedent during the past term.^[84]

In November 2022, as the investigation into who had leaked the draft opinion was still ongoing, it was revealed that Rob Schenck, an evangelical minister and former anti-abortion activist, had written Roberts a letter about an alleged previous leak of a Supreme Court decision. He wrote that he had been informed of the outcome of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby weeks before the June 2014 decision, authored by Alito and favorable to anti-abortion conservatives, was officially announced. Schenck claimed to have heard of the outcome from Gayle Wright, a conservative donor, shortly after she and her husband had lunch with Alito and his wife on June 3, 2014. The New York Times claims contemporaneous emails written by Schenck "strongly suggested he knew the outcome and the author of the Hobby Lobby decision before it was made public." In a statement, Alito denied having revealed the outcome or authorship of any decision before its official announcement, but did not dispute that the June 3 lunch with Wright had occurred.^[85]

On April 21, 2023, Alito dissented when the Supreme Court reversed a ruling by Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk that would have banned mifepristone (an emergency contraception medication) nationwide.^{[86] [87] [88]}

Free speech jurisprudence

Alito has also dissented from the opinions of the Court's conservative justices on free speech cases, one of which, Snyder v. Phelps, had to do with Westboro Baptist Church members' right to protest a military funeral.^[89] Alito offered the sole dissenting opinion, saying protesters "were sued under a very well-established tort that goes back to the 19th century, the intentional infliction of emotional, of severe emotional distress. And I thought that this tort constituted a reasonable exception to the First Amendment, but my colleagues disagreed about that."^[90]

In the 2007 landmark free speech case Morse v. Frederick, Alito joined Roberts's majority decision that speech advocating drug use can be banned in public schools, but also warned that the ruling must be circumscribed so as not to interfere with political speech, such as discussion of the medical marijuana debate.

Personal life

In 1985, Alito married Martha-Ann Bomgardner, a law librarian who met him during his trips to the library as a law clerk. They have two adult children, Laura and Philip; Martha-Ann left her profession to raise them.^[91] Alito resided with his family in West Caldwell, New Jersey, before his Supreme Court nomination.^[92] He has since moved to Alexandria, Virginia.^[93]

Since Stephen Breyer's retirement in 2022, Alito has been the only military veteran on the Court.^[94] He is a baseball fan and a longtime fan of the Philadelphia Phillies.^[95] The Phillie Phanatic was a special guest at his Supreme Court welcome dinner.^[96]

In 2013, as part of the ongoing fallout from the Edward Snowden case, former National Security Agency analyst Russell Tice revealed that, during 2002 and 2003, the National Security Agency targeted Alito's phones, and those of his staff and his family, for surveillance.^{[97] [98]}

Teaching

As an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law in Newark from 1999 to 2004, Alito taught courses in constitutional law and an original course on terrorism and civil liberties. In 1995, he received the school's Saint Thomas More Medal "in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of law".^[99] On May 25, 2007, he delivered the commencement address at Seton Hall Law's commencement ceremony and received an honorary law degree from the school.^[100]

As a visiting professor at Duke University School of Law, Alito taught Current Issues in Constitutional Interpretation in fall 2011 and a course in the Master of Laws in Judicial Studies program in summer 2012.^[101]

Ethical questions

See also: Code of Conduct for Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Accusations of accepting gifts

On June 20, 2023, ProPublica published an investigation of Alito's relationship with billionaire businessman Paul Singer, focusing on a trip Alito and Singer took to a luxury fishing resort in Alaska and suggesting Alito "violated a federal law that requires justices to disclose most gifts", such as private jet travel.^[102] The article said he should have recused himself in cases involving Singer and that he was obligated to disclose certain benefits as gifts on his 2008 Financial Disclosure Report. Legal ethics experts quoted in ProPublica called Alito's behavior "unacceptable".^[103]

Shortly before publication of the Propublica article, Alito published an pre-buttal in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal challenging the article's assertions and claiming that the source "misleads its readers".^{[104] [105]} His preemptory challenge maintained that ProPublica's charges were invalid. Alito further contended that because of an exemption in the Court's reporting rules for "personal hospitality", he was not required to disclose private air transport for social trips. His unconventional decision to bypass reporters' questions and preempt the story via a separate publication took ProPublica's reporters by surprise.^[106] The decision to publish the op-ed was criticized both within the Wall Street Journal and by media critics, in part because Alito's "pre-buttal" lacked fact-checking.^[107]

The ProPublica report on unreported gifts to both Alito and Thomas led several members of Congress to call for ethics reform for the Supreme Court. This included a Senate Judiciary Committee proposal to establish a code of ethics for the Court.^[108] In a July 2023 Wall Street Journal opinion column, Alito wrote, "Congress did not create the Supreme Court [...] I know this is a controversial view, but I'm willing to say it. No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court—period."^[109] This declaration led to further debate among lawmakers. Senator Chris Murphy said the Constitution gives Congress power to oversee the Court: "It is just wrong on the facts to say that Congress doesn't have anything to do with the rules guiding the Supreme Court. In fact, from the very beginning, Congress has set those rules."^[110]

Flag display controversy

On January 17, 2021, an upside-down American flag was flown outside Alito's residence in Alexandria, Virginia.^[111] The upside-down flag, traditionally a signal of distress,^[112] was displayed by supporters of former president Donald Trump during the January 6 Capitol attack and by members of the Stop the Steal movement, an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. In the summer of 2023, the Pine Tree Flag was flown at Alito's beach house on Long Beach Island in New Jersey.^[113] It was one of the flags used during the American Revolution,^[114] and has been used by Christian nationalists; it was also carried during the Capitol attack.^{[115] [116]} The flag displays, reported by The New York Times, caused controversy, including questions about judicial impartiality. During the flag's presence, the Supreme Court was considering the appeal in United States v. Fischer (2023), a case involving the January 6 Capitol attack.^[117]

A secret recording by advocacy journalist Lauren Windsor captured Martha-Ann Alito discussing the event in June 2024. Martha-Ann Alito said, "I want a Sacred Heart of Jesus flag because I have to look across the lagoon at the Pride flag for the next month", adding that she would be "changing the flags" when her husband was "free of this nonsense" and that she would come with her own flag, which would be white with yellow and orange flames and read "vergogna" ("shame" in Italian). She also told Windsor that she would "get" "the media", adding: "Look at me. Look at me. I'm German, from Germany. My heritage is German. You come after me, I'm going to give it back to you".^[118]

Reactions were mixed, with most Democrats condemning Alito and most Republicans defending him. Senate Committee on the Judiciary chairman Dick Durbin requested Alito's recusal from cases involving the January 6 Capitol attack or the 2020 presidential election.^[119] House Committee on the Judiciary member Steve Cohen introduced a resolution to censure Alito.^[120] Forty-five representatives, joined by ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee Hank Johnson, signed a letter requesting Alito's recusal.^[121] Senator Tom Cotton called the controversy an intimidation attempt,^[122] while Senator Lindsey Graham said hoisting the upside-down flag was "not good judgment".^[123]

Alito responded that he had no involvement in hoisting either flag, saying: "I was not even aware of the upside-down flag until it was called to my attention" and "I was not familiar with the Appeal to Heaven flag when my wife flew it".^[124] In an interview with Fox News, he reiterated that the flag was flown in response to a dispute with a neighbor,^[125] clarifying that his wife was upset about a "Fuck Trump" sign. He told Fox News host Shannon Bream that the neighbor blamed him for the January 6 Capitol attack and called his wife a "cunt".^[126]

Bibliography

• Foreword, 1 SETON HALL CIR. REV. 1 (2005).
• Panel Speaker at the Federalist Society's 2000 National Lawyers Convention: Presidential Oversight and the Administrative State, in 2 ENGAGE (Federalist Soc'y, Wash. D.C.) 11 (2001).
• The Role of the Lawyer in the Criminal Justice System, 2 FEDERALIST SOC'Y CRIM. L. NEWS (Federalist Soc'y, Wash., D.C.) 3 (1998)
• Change in Continuity at the Office of Legal Counsel, 15 CARDOZO L. REV. 507 (1993).
• Reviewing the Sentencing Commission's 1991 Annual Report, 5 FED. SENT. REP. 166 (1992).
• The First Amendment: Information, Publication and the Media, 1 SETON HALL CONST. L.J. 327 (1991).
• What Role Should Individual Sentencing Judges Play in the Guideline Development Process?, 1 FED SENT. REP. 372 (1989).
• Racketeering Made Simple(r), in THE RICO RACKET 1 (Gary L. McDowell ed. 1989).
• Introduction to After the Independent Counsel Decision: Is Separation of Powers Dead?, 26 AM. CRIM. L. REV. 1667 (1989).
• Shift Won't Hamper Crime Fight, DAILY J. (Vineland, N.J.), May 5, 1989.
• The Year Wasn't So Bad, NAT'L. L.J., September 26, 1998, at 12.
• Documents and the Privilege Against Self-Incrimination, 48 U. PITT. L. REV. 27 (1986).
• Equal Protection and Classification Based on Family Membership, 80 DICK. L. REV. 410 (1976).
• Web site: The "Released Time" Cases Revisited: A Study of Group Decisionmaking by the Supreme Court . 83 YALE L.J. 1202 . 1974 . https://perma.cc/3D2A-JL8X . 22 February 2015 .
• An Introduction to the Italian Constitutional Court (A.B. Thesis, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School Scholar Project, May 31, 1972).

Related documents

• Legal Memo written while working in the United States Solicitor General's office regarding the Fleeing felon rule. (May 18, 1984) (PDF)
• 'Personal Qualifications Statement' when applying to be an Assistant Attorney General under Pres. Ronald Reagan. (November 15, 1985)
• Legal Memo written as Deputy Asst. Attorney General to the OMB's General Counsel regarding OMB authority of FDIC funds. (1986) (PDF)
• House Committee on the Judiciary testimony regarding unpublished court opinions. (1990) (PDF)
• 2003 Financial Disclosure
• 2004 Financial Disclosure
• Response to a Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire (November 30, 2005) (PDF), (Appendix1 Appendix2 Appendix3 Appendix4)
• Letter from Justice Alito to Senators Durbin and Whitehouse

See also

• Judicial restraint
• List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
• List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 8)
• List of United States Supreme Court justices by time in office
• Unitary executive theory
• United States Supreme Court cases during the Roberts Court

Further reading

• Book: Avery . M. . McLaughlin . D. . 2021 . The Federalist Society: How Conservatives Took the Law Back from Liberals . Vanderbilt University Press . 978-0-8265-0339-8 .
• Bazelon . Emily . October 31, 2005 . Alito v. O'Connor . https://web.archive.org/web/20110511063923/http://www.slate.com/id/2129096/nav/tap1/ . May 11, 2011 . Slate.
• News: 2005-10-31 . Bush choice sets up court battle . https://web.archive.org/web/20060316202221/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4392540.stm . 2006-03-16 . BBC.
• Web site: Collins . Ronald K.L. . Hudson . David L. Jr. . October 31, 2005 . Judge Alito: fairly strong on free expression . https://swap.stanford.edu/20080725132649/http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/analysis.aspx?id=16003 . 2008-07-25 . First Amendment Center.
• Web site: Collins . Ronald K.L. . November 3, 2005 . Alito as government lawyer: '84 broadcast-regulation case . https://swap.stanford.edu/20080725130639/http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/analysis.aspx?id=16018 . 2008-07-25 . First Amendment Center.
• Davis . Elliott M. . Summer 2007 . The Newer Textualism: Justice Alito's Statutory Interpretation . Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy . 30 . 3 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160928235942/http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/Vol30_No3_Davisonline.pdf . 2016-09-28.
• Dickerson . John . October 31, 2005 . Ready To Rumble . https://web.archive.org/web/20110217190031/http://www.slate.com/id/2129101/nav/tap1/ . February 17, 2011 . Slate.
• Gibson . James L. . Caldeira . Gregory A. . 2009 . Confirmation politics and the legitimacy of the US Supreme Court: Institutional loyalty, positivity bias, and the Alito nomination . American Journal of Political Science . 53 . 1 . 139–155 . 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2008.00362.x . https://web.archive.org/web/20201024235739/https://pages.wustl.edu/files/pages/imce/jlgibson/ajps2009.pdf . October 24, 2020.
• News: Hook . Janet . November 1, 2005 . Bush's Supreme Court Nominee: A Phillies Fan With Blue-Chip Legal Stats . . A1.
• Web site: Judges of the United States . https://web.archive.org/web/20070109145353/http://air.fjc.gov/servlet/tGetInfo?jid=26 . January 9, 2007 . Federal Judicial Center. (official curriculum vitae).

External links

• • • • Appearances at the U.S. Supreme Court from the Oyez Project
• The Nomination of Samuel A. Alito at the Law Library of Congress
• Fox, John, Capitalism and Conflict, Biographies of the Robes, Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. Public Broadcasting Service.
• Washington Post Profile
• Daily Princetonian profile
• Issue positions and quotes at OnTheIssues
• Profile at SourceWatch
• "The Record of Samuel Alito: A Preliminary Review". People For the American Way. 2005.
• Read Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding Alito
• Alito at Jurist.org
• National Archives Alito links
• The White House Judicial Nominations page on Alito
• Supreme Court Justice Nomination Hearings on Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. in January 2006 United States Government Publishing Office

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Notes and References

1. News: Justice Samuel A. Alito. The Italian Side of the Story. i-Italy. 2017. May 13, 2019. May 13, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190513222231/http://www.i-italyny.com/magazine/2017-18_BEST_OF/files/assets/basic-html/page26.html.
2. News: Alito called 'perfect' student. The Washington Times. December 13, 2005. October 20, 2010. September 4, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200904074353/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/dec/13/20051213-123632-5671r/. live.
3. News: Russakoff. Dale. Becker. Jo. A Search for Order, an Answer in the Law. The Washington Post. January 8, 2006. September 11, 2017. November 19, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191119215354/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/07/AR2006010701268.html. live.
4. News: . 2013-02-12 . Rose Alito, mother of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr., is mourned during funeral in Hamilton . The Times of Trenton . Trenton, New Jersey . 2020-11-15 . December 19, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201219024003/https://www.nj.com/mercer/2013/02/supreme_court_justice_samuel_a.html . live .
5. [Michael Barone (pundit)|Barone, Michael]
6. Web site: Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito returns to Steinert High School for library dedication. Sulaiman. Abdur-Rahman . September 21, 2018.
7. Web site: Samuel Alito. Findlaw.com. October 11, 2023.
8. An Introduction to the Italian Constitutional Court. Samuel. Alito. catalog.princeton.edu. May 13, 2020. December 19, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201219023724/https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/dsp01cz30pt46d. live.
9. http://epic.org/privacy/justices/alito/report110205.pdf Report of the Chairman − Samuel Alito
10. Web site: The Princetonian. May 15, 2012. July 23, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130723232453/http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2005/10/28/13656/. live.
11. News: Lewis. Neil A.. Neil Lewis (journalist). Shane. Scott. Scott Shane. Alito Is Seen as a Methodical Jurist With a Clear Record. 2 November 2017. The New York Times. A1. 1 November 2005. December 8, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201208183539/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/01/politics/politicsspecial1/alito-is-seen-as-a-methodicaljurist-with-a-clear.html. live.
12. The washington Post (November 3, 2005) "Alito Joined ROTC While at Princeton" .
13. Bernstein, Mark F. (2006)."A Tiger on the Court: Sam Alito '72 at Princeton," Princeton Alumni Weekly, March 8. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
14. Book: Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court . Jan Crawford Greenburg . Penguin Group . 2007 . October 20, 2008 . 978-1-59420-101-1 . May 6, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160506061504/https://books.google.com/books?id=SQxqXLSy9wcC&pg=PA290 . live .
15. Web site: Alito's made mark as conservative. November 1, 2005. Deseret News.
16. Web site: C-SPAN Supreme Court Week – Justices In Their Own Words – Interview With Associate Justice Samuel Alito . Supremecourt.c-span.org . January 31, 2006 . May 4, 2011 . July 25, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110725113025/http://supremecourt.c-span.org/Video/JusticeOwnWords/SC_Jus_Alito.aspx . live .
17. Book: Register of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Courts . 1988 . U.S. Government Printing Office Washington: 1988 . 92 . 54th . February 24, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220224023253/https://books.google.com/books?id=wuHqyaE71vkC&pg=PA92&lpg=PA92&dq=United+States+Attorney+for+the+District+of+New+Jersey+December+10%2C+1987&source=bl&ots=Z7IMjIab4X&sig=ACfU3U0wzG31-VIhtmPbLMnWdOHVJgUw1w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjTvJ6KpZf2AhXMnOAKHQLmBz4Q6AF6BAgtEAM#v=onepage&q=United%20States%20Attorney%20for%20the%20District%20of%20New%20Jersey%20December%2010%2C%201987&f=false . February 24, 2022 . live.
18. News: Kirkpatrick. David D.. David D. Kirkpatrick. Interlocking Friendships Connect a Chairman and a Nominee. 2 November 2017. The New York Times. 8 November 2005. November 7, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107035810/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/08/politics/interlocking-friendships-connect-a-chairman-and-a-nominee.html. live.
19. News: Jeffrey. Gold. October 31, 2005. Alito Pushed Organized Crime, Drug Cases. Associated Press. The Las Vegas Sun. https://web.archive.org/web/20060613194203/http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2005/oct/31/103107579.html . June 13, 2006 .
20. Web site: Samuel A. Alito, Jr.. Oyez Project. 3 November 2017. November 7, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107020638/https://www.oyez.org/justices/samuel_a_alito_jr. live.
21. News: Kirkpatrick. David D.. Alito File Shows Strategy to Curb Abortion Ruling. 2 November 2017. The New York Times. 1 December 2005. November 7, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107041918/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/01/politics/politicsspecial1/alito-file-shows-strategy-to-curb-abortion-ruling.html. live.
22. News: Liptak. Adam. Adam Liptak. Before Supreme Court, Alito Had Winning Record. 2 November 2017. The New York Times. 20 November 2005. November 7, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107043848/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/20/politics/politicsspecial1/before-supreme-court-alito-had-winning-record.html. live.
23. News: Kirkpatrick. David D.. Alito Memos Supported Expanding Police Powers. 2 November 2017. The New York Times. 29 November 2005. November 7, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107043714/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/29/politics/politicsspecial1/alito-memos-supported-expanding-police-powers.html. live.
24. News: Bill. Sammon. Alito rejected abortion as a right. The Washington Times. November 14, 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/20051114231032/http://www.washtimes.com/national/20051114-015136-2101r.htm . November 14, 2005 .
25. Web site: Samuel Alito Fast Facts. . February 3, 2013. CNN.
26. News: Rangel. Jesus. ALL 20 ACQUITTED IN JERSEY MOB CASE. 2 November 2017. The New York Times. 27 August 1988. January 30, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180130182628/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/27/nyregion/all-20-acquitted-in-jersey-mob-case.html. live.
27. News: Wakin. Daniel J.. A Prosecutor Known for His Common Sense and Straightforward Style. 2 November 2017. The New York Times. 2 November 2005. November 7, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107015153/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/02/politics/politicsspecial1/a-prosecutor-known-for-his-common-sense-and.html. live.
28. News: Verhovek. Sam Howe. Bogus Threats Suspected in Indian Case. 2 November 2017. The New York Times. 22 March 1988. January 30, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180130171506/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/22/nyregion/bogus-threats-suspected-in-indian-case.html. live.
29. News: Schwartz. Ethan. EX-PROSECUTOR FOUND INSANE IN CASE OF FAKED THREATS. 2 November 2017. The Washington Post. 11 March 1989. November 7, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107030408/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1989/03/11/ex-prosecutor-found-insane-in-case-of-faked-threats/b2ebc90f-0205-4949-847a-46019cc8ff1e/. live.
30. News: Hanley. Robert. U.S. Links Man With 3 Bombs To a Terror Plot. 2 November 2017. The New York Times. 4 February 1989. August 19, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160819064937/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/04/nyregion/us-links-man-with-3-bombs-to-a-terror-plot.html. live.
31. Book: Unger, C. . 2021 . American Kompromat . Penguin Publishing Group . 978-0593182536 . 123.
32. Web site: November 2, 2005 . Judicial Society Lauds Alito Nomination . https://web.archive.org/web/20211108151904/https://www.foxnews.com/story/judicial-society-lauds-alito-nomination.amp . November 8, 2021 . Fox News.
33. Web site: PN1077 — Samuel A. Alito Jr. — The Judiciary. Congress.gov. April 27, 1990 . November 24, 2019. March 8, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210308020433/https://www.congress.gov/nomination/101st-congress/1077. live.
34. News: Alito Sworn In As High Court Justice . . February 11, 2009 . September 23, 2012 . May 15, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130515152746/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/31/politics/main1260362.shtml . live .
35. Web site: September 9, 2003 . Ronald A. Williams v. James Price, Superintendent, SCI-Pittsburgh; D. Michael Fisher, Attorney General . October 31, 2005 . February 17, 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060217211512/http://vls.law.villanova.edu/locator/3d/Sept2003/002305p.pdf .
36. News: David D.. Kirkpatrick. The New York Times. October 31, 2005. Parties Set Stage for Showdown on Court Choice. https://web.archive.org/web/20150121173147/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/politics/politicsspecial1/31cnd-court.html . January 21, 2015 .
37. Web site: Statement of Stephen L. Tober, Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary American Bar Association, concerning the Nomination of the Honorable Samuel A. Alito, Jr. (January 12, 2006). 3 November 2017. March 4, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025743/http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/scfedjud/SCpage/Alito_testimony.authcheckdam.pdf.
38. News: USA Today. January 4, 2006. Alito gets 'well-qualified' rating from American Bar Association. Associated Press. https://web.archive.org/web/20070817072849/http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-01-04-alito_x.htm . August 17, 2007 .
39. Toobin. Jeffrey. Jeffrey Toobin. The Conservative Pipeline to the Supreme Court. April 10, 2017. October 31, 2020. The New Yorker. en-us. April 10, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190410000810/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/17/the-conservative-pipeline-to-the-supreme-court. live.
40. News: Stolberg. Sheryl Gay. Sheryl Gay Stolberg. 7 Federal Appeals Judges to Testify to Alito's Character. 26 November 2018. The New York Times. January 7, 2006. July 30, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170730071059/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/07/politics/politicsspecial1/7-federal-appeals-judges-to-testify-to-alitos.html. live.
41. News: Liptak. Adam. Adam Liptak. Few Glimmers of How Conservative Judge Alito Is. 2 November 2017. The New York Times. 2006. A1. February 12, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180212093747/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/13/politics/politicsspecial1/few-glimmers-of-how-conservative-judge-alito-is.html. live.
42. News: Dems Slam Alito's Alumni Group . . January 12, 2006 . July 17, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090904115121/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,181385,00.html . September 4, 2009 .
43. News: . Alito disavows conservative alumni group . Mark . Stefanski . January 13, 2006 . August 18, 2009 . March 19, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120319231040/http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2006/01/13/14235/ . live .
44. News: Krieg . Gregory . 2018-10-01 . ACLU TV ads compare Kavanaugh to Bill Clinton, Bill Cosby . 2024-01-25 . CNN . en.
45. Web site: Report of the American Civil Liberties Union on the Nomination of Third Circuit Court Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., to be Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court. December 9, 2005. American Civil Liberties Union. November 25, 2018. March 10, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210310120001/https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/images/asset_upload_file130_23216.pdf. live.
46. Web site: ACLU Opposes Nomination of Judge Alito. January 9, 2006. American Civil Liberties Union. https://web.archive.org/web/20060112124104/http://www.aclu.org/scotus/alito/. 2006-01-12.
47. Web site: Alito Confirmed as Newest Supreme Court Justice . . January 31, 2006 . May 4, 2011 . March 14, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120314014930/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5181091 . live .
48. https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm Roll Call Vote 109th Congress - 2nd Session (on the confirmation of Samuel Alito of New Jersey)
49. News: Kirkpatrick. David D.. Alito Sworn In as Justice After Senate Gives Approval. 26 November 2018. The New York Times. 1 February 2006. November 8, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181108232102/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/01/politics/politicsspecial1/alito-sworn-in-as-justice-after-senate-gives.html. live.
50. News: Alito Is Sworn In as Justice After 58-42 Vote to Confirm Him. David. Stout. The New York Times . January 31, 2006. NYTimes.com.
51. News: Babington. Charles. Alito Is Sworn In On High Court: Senators Confirm Conservative Judge Largely on Party Lines. The Washington Post. February 1, 2006. September 11, 2017. November 25, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181125052214/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/14/AR2007081401015.html. live.
52. News: Charles . Hurt . Alito sworn in as 110th justice . . February 1, 2006 . March 30, 2007 . February 11, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070211105916/http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060201-123419-7856r.htm . live .
53. News: Alito sworn in as nation's 110th Supreme Court justice . CNN. January 31, 2006. February 4, 2006. February 4, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20060204110153/http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/01/31/alito/index.html. live.
54. https://web.archive.org/web/20010405054827/http://www.adherents.com/adh_sc.html Religious affiliation of Supreme Court justices
55. News: Analysis: Samuel Alito, caught on tape, reinforces why people are skeptical of the Supreme Court | CNN Politics . June 12, 2024 .
56. Web site: Violante . Cristina . 2017-06-12 . Behind A Justice's First Opinion: A Tradition Of Unanimity . 2024-01-25 . Law360 . en.
57. News: Lane . Charles . 2006-05-02 . Justices Reinstate Smith's Claim . 2024-01-25 . The Washington Post . 2 . en-US . 0190-8286 . Alito's first opinion came in Holmes v. South Carolina, No. 04-1327. Following Supreme Court tradition for new justices, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. assigned Alito a unanimous opinion as his first..
58. Web site: Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon, 04-10566 . October 20, 2010 . August 13, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110813050241/http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/05pdf/04-10566.pdf . live .
59. Alito. Samuel A. Jr.. The Origin of the Baseball Antitrust Exemption: Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs. Journal of Supreme Court History. June 15, 2009. 34. 2. 183–195. 10.1111/j.1540-5818.2009.01208.x. 247668532 .
60. Alito. Samuel A. Jr.. The Origin of the Baseball Antitrust Exemption. Baseball Research Journal. 2009. 38. 2. 10 September 2016. September 16, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160916053555/http://sabr.org/research/alito-origin-baseball-antitrust-exemption. live.
61. Web site: Supreme Court justices ideological scores U.S. 2021 . 2023-01-12 . . en.
62. Web site: Bill. Mears. Justice Alito casts his first vote. CNN. February 2, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20091004020547/http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/01/alito/index.html . October 4, 2009 .
63. Web site: SCOTUS Blog. https://web.archive.org/web/20060927135744/http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype/archives/June28VotingStats.pdf. September 27, 2006.
64. Web site: Ariane de Vogue . Chandelis Duster . October 5, 2020 . Justices Thomas and Alito lash out at the decision that cleared way for same-sex marriage . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201005170032/https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/05/politics/clarence-thomas-samuel-alito/index.html . October 5, 2020 . 2020-10-05 . CNN.
65. News: Kyle Balluck . 2020-10-05 . Supreme Court rejects bid by ex-Kentucky clerk who defied gay marriage ruling to block lawsuit . en . . live . 2020-10-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201005183101/https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/519636-supreme-court-rejects-bid-by-ex-kentucky-clerk-who-defied-gay . October 5, 2020.
66. Web site: October 5, 2020 . Supreme Court rejects appeal from county clerk who wouldn't issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210214231434/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-rejects-appeal-county-clerk-who-wouldn-t-issue-n1242124 . February 14, 2021 . 2020-10-05 . . en.
67. News: Workers can't be fired for being gay or transgender, Supreme Court rules. Harper. Neidig. June 15, 2020. June 17, 2020. The Hill. June 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200615144030/https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/502729-supreme-court-rules-lgbt-workers-protected-by-civil-rights-law. live.
68. News: Gerstein . Josh . Rainey . Rebecca . June 15, 2020 . Supreme Court finds federal law bars LGBT discrimination in workplace . . June 17, 2020 . June 16, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200616080113/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/15/supreme-court-lgbt-rights-decision-319693 . live .
69. News: Barnes . Robert . Justice Alito says pandemic has resulted in 'unimaginable' restrictions on individual liberty . . 19 November 2020 . November 19, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201119071544/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/12/samuel-alito-federalist-society-speech/ . live .
70. Web site: 2014-04-21 . Sam Alito: A Civil Man . https://web.archive.org/web/20170522135245/https://spectator.org/58731_sam-alito-civil-man/ . May 22, 2017 . April 8, 2017 . The American Spectator.
71. Gorod . Brianne J. . January 24, 2017 . Sam Alito: The Court's Most Consistent Conservative . . 126 . 362–373.
72. [Jennifer Granick|Granick, Jennifer]
73. Web site: Alberti . Oriana Gonzalez, Danielle . 2022-06-24 . The political leanings of the Supreme Court justices . 2023-01-12 . . en.
74. Epstein . Lee . Martin . Andrew D. . Segal . Jeffrey A. . Westerland . Chad . 2007 . The Judicial Common Space . Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization . 23 . 2 . 303–325 . 10.1093/jleo/ewm024 . 8756-6222 . 40058180.
75. Web site: Alberti . Oriana González, Danielle . 2022-06-24 . The political leanings of the Supreme Court justices . 2023-04-07 . Axios. en.
76. News: Talbot . Margaret . Justice Alito's Crusade Against a Secular America Isn't Over . August 28, 2022 . . February 12, 2023 . February 9, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230209215031/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/09/05/justice-alitos-crusade-against-a-secular-america-isnt-over .
77. News: . Justice Alito questions possibility of political compromise in secret recording . . en . "Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is heard questioning whether compromise between the left and right is possible in a conversation posted on social media".
78. Web site: Tait . Robert . Alito doubts US right and left can co-exist and wife criticizes Pride flag in secret recording . . 12 June 2024 . 11 June 2024.
79. News: Gerstein . Josh . Ward . Alexander . May 2, 2022 . Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights, draft opinion shows . . May 2, 2022.
80. News: Liptak . Adam . Adam Liptak . June 24, 2022 . In 6-to-3 Ruling, Supreme Court Ends Nearly 50 Years of Abortion Rights . . June 24, 2022.
81. Web site: Gerstein . Josh . Alito mocks foreign critics of Supreme Court abortion ruling . July 28, 2022 . . July 28, 2022 . en.
82. Web site: Ariane. de Vogue. . Samuel Alito mocks foreign critics of repealing Roe v. Wade in Rome speech . July 28, 2022 . July 28, 2022.
83. Web site: Melissa . Quinn . Alito says leak of Supreme Court abortion opinion made some justices 'targets for assassination' . October 26, 2022 . October 26, 2022 . . en-US.
84. Web site: October 26, 2022 . Supreme Court justices spar over court legitimacy comments . 2023-01-12 . Associated Press. en.
85. News: Kantor . Jodi . Becker . Jo . "Former Anti-Abortion Leader Alleges Another Supreme Court Breach" . . November 19, 2022 . November 19, 2022 . November 19, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221119211756/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/19/us/supreme-court-leak-abortion-roe-wade.html.
86. Web site: Samuel Alito used his dissent in the abortion pill ruling to call out 3 justices in an act of judiciary 'theater,' SCOTUS expert says. Business Insider. April 21, 2023. April 26, 2023.
87. Web site: Abortion pill case: what does the supreme court order mean and what comes next?. The Guardian. April 21, 2023. April 26, 2023.
88. Web site: 22a901_3d9g.pdf. supremecourt.gov. April 21, 2023. April 26, 2023.
89. Web site: Facts and Case Summary - Snyder v. Phelps . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160318001424/http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/facts-and-case-summary-snyder-v-phelps . March 18, 2016 . March 19, 2016.
90. Web site: Samuel Alito on Conversations with Bill Kristol . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160329044015/http://conversationswithbillkristol.org/video/samuel-alito/?start=3350&end=4117 . March 29, 2016 . March 19, 2016.
91. Web site: Martha-Ann Alito: Wife of Supreme Court justice at heart of flag and secret recording controversies . The Independent. June 11, 2024 .
92. News: Alito's Supreme Court Nomination Confirmed . https://web.archive.org/web/20101001205542/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4982475 . October 1, 2010 . . September 20, 2007 . Alito and his wife, Martha-Ann Bomgardner, live in West Caldwell, N.J. His sister Rosemary Alito is a labor attorney..
93. News: Vu . Nancy . May 9, 2022 . Alito's home draws latest abortion-rights demonstration after Roe opinion breach . Politico. May 9, 2022.
94. Web site: Preston . Matthew . April 15, 2022 . Ketanji Brown Jackson's Historic Rise Leaves Just One Military Veteran on the Supreme Court . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220415131417/https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2022/04/15/supreme-court-ketanji-brown-jackson-veteran/9510328002/ . April 15, 2022 . October 9, 2022 . USA Today.
95. Web site: Samuel Alito on Conversations with Bill Kristol. March 19, 2016. March 24, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160324164851/http://conversationswithbillkristol.org/video/samuel-alito/. live.
96. Web site: Debra Cassens . Weiss . A Better-Smelling Phillie Phanatic Helped Welcome Alito to Supreme Court . 2022-07-05 . ABA Journal . en.
97. Web site: I held in my hand Judge Alito's targeting information for his phones and his staff and his family. . . August 2013 . September 11, 2017 . March 14, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170314040049/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/government_programs-july-dec13-whistleblowers_08-01/ . live .
98. NSA Blackmailing Obama? Interview with Whistleblower Russ Tice, Breaking the Set, Abby Martin . July 9, 2013 . I held Judge Alito's paperwork in my hand. . YouTube.
99. Web site: The Justices of the United States Supreme Court . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160425133554/http://supremecourtreview.com/default/justice/index/id/36 . April 25, 2016 . 2016-05-02 . Supreme Court Review.
100. News: May 27, 2007 . Alito speaks to Seton Hall grads . https://web.archive.org/web/20211108151905/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-26-alito-seton-hall_N.htm . November 8, 2021 . January 21, 2014 . . Associated Press.
101. Web site: Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120919011004/http://law.duke.edu/fac/alito/ . September 19, 2012 . July 13, 2012 . Duke University School of Law.
102. Web site: Mierjeski . Justin . Elliott . Joshua . Kaplan . Alex . 2023-06-20 . Justice Samuel Alito Took Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court . June 21, 2023 . . en.
103. News: Pengelly . Martin . June 21, 2023 . Samuel Alito did not declare gifts from billionaire with case before US supreme court . June 21, 2023 . The Guardian.
104. News: Alito . Samuel A. Jr. . June 20, 2023 . Opinion Justice Samuel Alito: ProPublica Misleads Its Readers . June 21, 2023 . . en-US . 0099-9660.
105. Web site: Bazail-Eimil . Eric . Berg . Matt . June 21, 2023 . Justice Samuel Alito faces scrutiny over trips with GOP donor, pens defensive op-ed . June 21, 2023 . Politico.
106. Web site: Engelberg . Jesse Eisinger, Stephen . 2023-06-25 . Behind the Scenes of Justice Alito's Unprecedented Wall Street Journal Pre-buttal . 2023-06-27 . . en.
107. News: Robertson . Katie . 2023-06-21 . Alito's Reply in a Rival Publication Surprises ProPublica . 2023-06-27 . . en-US . 0362-4331.
108. News: Rimmer . Morgan . July 20, 2023 . Senate Judiciary Committee advances Supreme Court ethics bill on party lines . July 30, 2023 . CNN.
109. News: Rivkin Jr. . David B. . Taranto . James . July 28, 2023 . Samuel Alito, the Supreme Court's Plain-Spoken Defender . July 30, 2023 . The Wall Street Journal.
110. Web site: LeBlanc . Paul . July 30, 2023 . Democratic senator calls Samuel Alito 'stunningly wrong' on Supreme Court ethics controversy . July 30, 2023 . CNN.
111. News: Kantor . Jodi . At Justice Alito's House, a 'Stop the Steal' Symbol on Display . The New York Times . New York Times . May 16, 2024.
112. (United States Flag Code) "The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property."
113. News: Another Provocative Flag Was Flown At Another Alito Home . The New York Times . May 22, 2024 . New York Times . Kantor . Jodi . Toler . Aric . Tate . Julie .
114. Web site: Benner. Dave. April 16, 2017. John Locke's Appeal to Heaven: Its Continuing Relevance. August 27, 2020. Tenth Amendment Center. https://web.archive.org/web/20210310102741/https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2017/04/16/john-lockes-appeal-to-heaven-its-continuing-relevance/. March 10, 2021.
115. Web site: Knox . Brady . 2024-05-23 . What are the flags Alito is under fire for? . https://web.archive.org/web/20240525165742/https://gazette.com/news/wex/what-are-the-flags-alito-is-under-fire-for/article_2b8e993e-34f8-50fc-a7c8-2df36ff84072.html . May 25, 2024 . 2024-05-28 . en-US . Colorado Springs Gazette.
116. Web site: Hahner . Leslie . Varda . Scott J. . 2024-05-30 . Outside Supreme Court justice's home, a Revolution-era flag, now a call for Christian nationalism . 2024-06-16 . The Conversation . en-US.
117. Web site: Another Provocative Flag Was Flown at Another Alito Home . May 22, 2024 . Kantor . Jodi . Toler . Aric . Tate . Julie . Jodi Kantor . . May 26, 2024.
118. News: VanSickle . Abbie . June 10, 2024 . Justice Alito's Wife, in Secretly Recorded Conversation, Complains About Pride Flag . The New York Times.
119. Web site: Weaver . Al . May 17, 2024 . Durbin calls for Alito recusal from Jan. 6 cases over upside-down flag that flew at his home . May 22, 2024 . The Hill.
120. Web site: Sforza . Lauren . 22 May 2024 . Democrat introduces Alito censure resolution over upside-down flag . May 22, 2024 . The Hill.
121. News: Jouvenal . Justin . Marimow . Ann . May 21, 2024 . House Democrats call on Justice Alito to recuse after flag controversy . May 22, 2024 . The Washington Post.
122. Web site: Whitehurst . Lindsay . May 17, 2024 . Justice Alito's home flew a US flag upside down after Trump's 'Stop the Steal' claims, a report says . May 22, 2024 . Associated Press.
123. Web site: Timotija . Filip . 21 May 2024 . Graham on upside-down flag at Alito home: 'Not good judgment' . May 22, 2024 . The Hill.
124. Web site: Alito . Samuel . May 29, 2024 . Letter from Justice Alito to Senators Durbin and Whitehouse . Supreme Court of the United States.
125. Web site: Alito and the upside down flag: What the symbol means to 'stop the steal' crowd . May 17, 2024 . Groppe . Maureen . . May 22, 2024.
126. Samuel Alito Can't Even Lie Properly About That Upside-Down Flag . May 17, 2024 . Jane . Talia . . May 22, 2024.