As the Senate Judiciary Committee begins its second day of the confirmation hearings for Samuel Alito, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has announced its opposition to Alito for the Supreme Court. This is only the third time in ACLU’s 86-year history that it has opposed a nominee to the Supreme Court.
“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,” said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. “Unfortunately, Judge Alito’s record shows a willingness to support government actions that abridge individual freedoms.”
The ACLU joins a broad coalition of major constituency groups opposing Alito, including the Feminist Majority, the National Organization for Women, the National Association of Women Lawyers, the National Council of Women’s Organizations, the NAACP, AFL-CIO, Change to Win Leadership Council of Unions, the Congressional Black Caucus, the National Women’s Law Center, People for the American Way, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, MoveOn.org, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.
Meanwhile, a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll found that 56 percent of Americans said that they would not support Alito if they were convinced during the hearings that he would reverse Roe v. Wade. Alito is on the record stating that the Constitution does not protect the right to abortion, and he helped craft the legal strategy designed to first chip away and then overturn Roe v. Wade.
GET THE INSIDE SCOOP with The Smeal Report at MsMagazine.com
TAKE ACTION Call your Senators and urge them to oppose Alito
