CAPAC Executive Board Opposes Alito Nomination

CAPAC Executive Board Opposes Alito Nomination
Supreme Court Nominee Lacks Strong Civil Rights View

Washington, DC - The Executive Board of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) - including Chair Mike Honda, Civil Rights Task Force Chair Bobby Scott, and Rep. Doris Matsui - issued the following statement on the nomination of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court:

"CAPAC believes that no individual should be confirmed to the Supreme Court unless he or she has clearly demonstrated a strong commitment to the protection of civil rights and liberties. Judge Samuel Alito's record reveals a history of troubling beliefs and decisions with respect to civil rights. From the beginning of his career, through his decisions as a jurist on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Judge Alito has routinely favored an extreme reading of statutory and constitutional law. Judge Alito has consistently issued decisions that curtail the rights of individuals, limit remedies available to them, and undermine the power of Congress to protect those individuals.

CAPAC is particularly concerned that Judge Alito's overly restrictive views and narrow interpretation of the law have deeply influenced his judicial decision making Such extreme views put Sam Alito outside the judicial mainstream on a number of key civil rights issues, including voting rights, employment discrimination, the rights of criminal defendants, and the power of Congress to prevent and remedy discrimination. The following list highlights aspects of Judge Alito's record that we believe warrant our opposition:

· In a 1985 job application, Judge Alito unequivocally expressed his personal agreement with Reagan Administration policies that restricted civil rights;

· Judge Alito questioned leading Supreme Court rulings protecting the constitutional rights of accused criminals. See, e.g., Doe v. Groody (police officers who strip-searched a suspect's wife and ten-year old daughter were entitled to qualified immunity, even though they were not named in a search warrant); Riley v. Taylor (finding no constitutional violation in prosecution's apparent use of peremptory challenges to exclude black jurors from a death penalty case involving an AfricanAmerican defendant) (Alito, J., dissent);

· Throughout his career, Judge Alito has routinely acted to curtail the rights of individuals, limit remedies available to them, and undermine the power of Congress to protect those individuals. (See, e.g., United States v. Rybar (Congress did not have the power to use its Commerce Clause authority to protect Americans from machine gun violence) (Alito, J., dissent).)

· Judge Alito actively participated in the Reagan Administration's efforts to limit action and redress in discrimination suits, such as affirmative action. (See, e.g., Bray v. Marriott Hotels, Alito's dissenting opinion called for an evidentiary standard that would have, according to the majority, "eviscerated" one of our nation's key antidiscrimination laws).

Judge Alito's nomination also raises other serious concerns for the Asian and Pacific Islander American community. According to the Asian American Justice Center, Judge Alito's legal positions have undermined the constitutional and due process protections available to immigrants. As a deputy assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice under President Ronald Reagan, Judge Alito argued that certain non-citizens are not entitled to the protections offered by the U.S. Constitution. Supreme Court decisions continue to have an immense impact on the lives of Asian Americans, ranging from Gong Lum v. Rice (1927), an unsuccessful challenge to school segregation that would later be overturned by Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, to United States v. Korematsu (1944), where the Court upheld the internment of Japanese Americans.

Currently, more than 30 national organizations oppose Judge Alito's nomination. Members of CAPAC now join those groups, which includes the Asian American Justice Center, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, the Japanese-American Citizens League, LCCR, ACLU, National Council of Jewish Women, AFL-CIO, and Alliance for Justice."

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ca15_honda/CAPACalitooppose.html