Judge Samuel Alito: Under His Robe

According to news reports, Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr., will soon be named as President Bush's Supreme Court nominee. To learn more about Judge Alito, check out these three great reports, from people with firsthand knowledge of what Sam Alito is really like: Eric Muller, Orin Kerr, and Michael Cernovich.

Of course, as a leading judicial celebrity, Judge Samuel Alito is no stranger to the pages of Underneath Their Robes. To locate Article III Groupie's prior posts on Judge Sam Alito, go to Google and type in the following (or click here):

--site:underneaththeirrobes.blogs.com alito

In addition to A3G's recent open letter to President Bush in favor of nominating Judge Samuel Alito, here are a few highlights from UTR's coverage of this superb jurist:

1. A judicial sightation of Judge Alito, "wandering down Broad Street in Newark, New Jersey," in the direction of T.M. Ward's Coffee Shop.

Ward's, by the way, has named a blend of coffee after SCOTUS nominee Alito. In the wake of President Bush's official announcement, expect sales of "Judge Alito's Bold Justice Blend" to skyrocket! The Philadelphia Inquirer has this report:

At T.M. Ward Coffee Co. in downtown Newark, near Alito's office, the judge is known more for his taste in coffee than for his legal philosophy. Store clerk Vera Barbosa said that Alito's law clerks wanted to do something special for his birthday a few years ago, so they persuaded the store to come up with a special blend for him.

"Judge Alito's Bold Justice Blend" -- a mix of Colombian, Java and New Guinea with a bit of espresso -- remains a hot seller at the coffee shop, Barbosa said, and Alito often stops by for it - by the cup and by the pound.

"He's a great man," Barbosa said. "He's very polite. He comes in whenever he has a chance. He's very nice."

2. A comparison of Judge Alito to the lovely and talented Kate Winslet, in The Race to the Courthouse: Some Insights from the Oscars.

Back in that post, A3G compared five Supreme Court short-listers to the five nominees for Best Actress at this year's Oscars. A3G wrote:

Both Alito and Winslet have been on the scene for a while, and they are justifiably held in high regard. For many years, they have been working hard and turning in fine performances. They are personally pleasant, and they are exceedingly well-liked.

But they face the same problem: How can they steal the momentum from their flashier, more aggressive colleagues? Despite his misleading nickname of "Scalito," the unassuming Judge Alito isn't nearly as forceful a personality as Justice Scalia. How can Judge Alito avoid becoming breakfast for Judge Luttig's pack of hungry wolves -- the powerful network of well-placed Luttigators, who all share a cult-like devotion to the aggrandizement of their former boss?

By the way, although A3G loves nicknames, she will generally avoid using the moniker of "Scalito" (whose origin is explained at Stuart Buck's blog). As noted by Fred Barbash and Peter Baker of the Washington Post, "most observers believe that [nickname] greatly oversimplifies his record. Alito is considered far less provocative a figure than Scalia both in personality and judicial temperament. His opinions and dissents tend to be dryly analytical rather than slashing. In addition, his appeals court record is not uniformly conservative on the sorts of issues that arise in Supreme Court confirmation battles."

So, although conservatives should be happy that President Bush has selected a nominee "in the mold of Justice Scalia and Justice Thomas," liberals should not have a reaction of knee-jerk antipathy towards Judge Alito.

3. A judicial sightation of Judge Alito at the local Shoprite supermarket. According to UTR's source, the possible future Associate Justice "bags his own groceries"!

4. A lengthy footnote about Judge Alito, in a post suggesting that President Bush nominate Jennifer Lopez, Oprah Winfrey, or Janet Jackson's right breast to the Supreme Court. A3G expressed fear that Judge Alito's status as one of the Great Unwashed would hurt his SCOTUS candidacy. She's happy to be wrong!

5. A quick post noting that Judge Alito "is known for being brilliant, mild-mannered, and unfailingly polite."

6. In this post about then-Judge Michael Chertoff, a former colleague of Judge Alito, A3G noted (item #14) that Judge Alito's wife, Martha Alito, "was formerly the law librarian in the U.S. Attorney's Office where he worked."

7. In this post about Judge Consuelo M. Callahan, A3G identified Judge Alito (and then-Judge Roberts) as a top SCOTUS possibility. A3G described Judge Alito as "relatively young, impressively credentialed, and reliably conservative, but not fierily or flamboyantly so."

The moral of the story of Judge Alito's nomination: sometimes nice guys do finish first. On behalf of UTR's readers, A3G says:

WE LOVE YOU JUDGE ALITO!!!

Comments

[Nel J. Lehto]

EDUCATION: AB, Princeton, 1972; JD, Yale, 1975

Served in the Army Reserves from 1972 until 1980 when he was discharged as a captain. (The typical committment was six years. Did he re-enlist?)

Alito clerked for Judge Leonard Garth of the Third Circuit, who is now his colleague on that court, from 1976 to 1977.

From 1977-1980, Alito served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the appellate division, where he argued cases before the circuit court to which he was later appointed.

So, what did he do in the U.S. Army Reserve? Why did he join after graduating from Princeton? Was he ROTC? The Vietnam draft was ending in June 1972, if I recall correctly.