Reaction Of Senator Patrick Leahy,
Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee,
To New Solicitor General Documents Released Wednesday
Concerning Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito
November 30, 2005  

“This new information heightens concern about Judge Alito’s views regarding ‘settled law’ and his eagerness to engage in activism to change law with which he disagrees. This document from his time in the Solicitor General’s office builds on what we have already learned from his 1985 application for promotion from career to political status in the Meese Justice Department and the personal convictions he expressed in that about the direction of the law.  This information reinforces the need for the Senate to obtain all relevant information about this nominee, including his other Solicitor General memos and his work in the Office of Legal Counsel. We now see why this Administration has resisted so strenuously to the release of these sorts of memos.  They show that nominees often have expressed legal views on issues that it is important for Senators to know about before voting on these lifetime appointments.”  

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