The Washington Post is hinting that Samuel A. Alito Jr will be nominated to replace Sandra Day O’Connor, noting that Alito was in town Thursday night. Alito is best known for his resemblance to Scalia, both physically and judicially, and is often referred to as “Scalito” or “Little Nino.”
He is second-best known for his dissent in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Casey, you may recall, concerned a Pennsylvania law requiring a woman to inform her husband if she wanted to have an abortion. While his dissent may have been couched in the language of “undue burden” or lack thereof, in simplest terms he found such a law perfectly reasonable.
Regarding this decision I’ll just say that Scalito’s desire to return society to the Dark Ages matches well with some of his colleagues pining for the days of the feudal system.
There is a certain logic to such a nomination. It appears calculated to undo the Gang of 14 agreement, which had undermined the authority of the One True branch of government, the Executive. Can’t have that. It also would be an appeasement to the Fundamentalist branch of the Republican party. Their support for Bush in the 2004 election was conditioned on a Supreme Court appointment that would overturn Roe, and Miers was ambiguous on this point. They had ordered up raw meat; imagine their surprise when they found snausage in their bowl.
More on Scalito at dKosopedia.
