Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., was confirmed on Jan. 31 as the 110th justice in the history of the Supreme Court, according to The New York Times.
The 58-to-42 vote in the Senate gave President George W. Bush a political triumph just hours ahead of his televised State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress.
As expected, Judge Alito's support took place pretty closely to party lines. Exceptions occurred when Republican Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island voted no ( the only Republican to do so ) and four Democrats—Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Tim Johnson of South Dakota and Kent Conrad of North Dakota—voted yes.
The vote is considered a triumph for the conservative movement. Legal pundits have described his jurisprudence as cautious, traditionalist and solidly conservative. In contrast, the justice he will succeed, Sandra Day O'Connor, was regarded as a swing vote on many issues.
Alito, who sat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for some 15 years, is only 55, so he could serve for decades. He becomes the second relatively young conservative to ascend to the court in recent months. Last fall, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who turned 51 on Friday, replaced William H. Rehnquist, who died in early September.
Alito's supporters have described him as a jurist who would not seek to undo the work of legislators and adopt his own agenda, CNN reported. His critics say he has consistently sided with big government and big business, and that he does not believe a woman has a right to an abortion.
His Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing became contentious when it was discovered that Alito took part in a college group that opposed the admission of women and minorities. Alito contended that he had little to do with the group and had joined it only because it was fighting efforts to abolish R.O.T.C. from the Princeton campus. The committee passed his nomination to the full Senate on a strict party-line vote, 10 to 8.
Gay-rights groups have responded to the confirmation. Lambda Legal Executive Director Kevin Cathcart issued a release stating that ' [ w ] ith this confirmation, the Supreme Court likely will shift to the right and become a less welcoming forum for many kinds of civil-rights claims.' He added that 'it is important for us to remember that the court still contains a majority of justices who ruled in favor of liberty and equality for gay people in Lambda Legal's two recent Supreme Court successes that are the foundation for much of our community's progress.'
