Introductory statement
- Alito and wife, Martha, live in West Caldwell, New Jersey. He has two children: a son in college and a daughter in high school.
Badly constructed section here. Who is the "he" that last sentence is referring to?
Also, why is it considered a criticism to call someone "gay"? This seems to betray an anti-gay bias on the part of his critics. ---Anon.
Religious Faith
- What is the religious faith of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr.?
Roman Catholic.
Middle name
What does the "A." in his name stand for?
nomination
Why is there a separate article for the nomination? It seems redundant to me. The Monster 13:43, 31 October 2005 (UTC)
- The nomination is an event, the person is a person - and if all of what will end up in the 2 articles went into one, it would end up being too long anyway. See the separate John Roberts bio and confirmation articles for support of that premise. BDAbramson T 14:05, 31 October 2005 (UTC)
If confirmed by the Senate, Alito would be the fifth Roman Catholic to serve on the current Supreme Court, creating the First Majority Catholic Supreme Court, joining two Jews and two Protestants. Together, Catholics (24% of the U.S. population) and Jews (2% of the population) would constitute 77% of the Supreme Court membership, leaving Protestants (whose denominations constitute a majority of the American population) with the smallest minority on the court in its history (First Minority Protestant Supreme Court). There is no religious test to be a Supreme Court justice in the U.S.
- Could we consider consolidating those two articles into something a little more substantial? They're stubs as it is. Perhaps "Religion of Supreme Court Justices?" Even that might be too short; maybe there should just be a new heading under the main Supreme Court article. I think to give each of these their own articles is making a mountain out of a molehill. --Trnpkroadwarrior 17:15, 31 October 2005 (UTC)
The disappearing/reappearing "slanted" paragraph
Would it not be more accurate and fair to say, "It is expected there will be a major fight OVER his confirmation." (rather than "FOR his confirmation")
Saying, "Late night talk shows will find ways to ridicule him" isn't needed or useful. Late night shows make jokes about many public figures in the news, be they right wing extremists/neocons or otherwise. But if that stands we could also say, "Televangelists and right wing news channels will glorify him, hoping in turn to redeem the president's very low approval ratings (and to distract public attention from administration indictments, high fuel prices, the Hurricane Katrina fiasco, illegal immigration, outsourcing of jobs, the swelling national deficit and the costly, never-ending war in Iraq)." Which way do you want to go?
Actually none of this paragraph is needed.
I had no Idea this infromation source was so liberal. To bad
Don't be disappointed. The "so liberal" copy was never posted in the article. Only the "so conservative" -- "shows will find ways to ridicule him" and "fight FOR his confirmation" -- were posted. So cheer up -- that info source was fair and balanced to the conservatives, and that's what fair and balanced (and good) means . . . to some. For God sakes don't take them rosy goggles off.
Scalito nickname
I looked up the "scalito" nickname in Lexis and this is not a "new" nickname. In The National Law Journal, December 7, 1992, the article says "It's a trait that has led some to nickname him "Scalito," after the acerbic Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia".
Is "since the nomination" appropriate? It makes it sound as though this criticism is a new (and presumably cynical) invention. I heard this criticism months before the nomination.
Just for reference. mmmbeerT / C / ? 14:25, 31 October 2005 (UTC)
Added the criticism of the nickname, with source. Since it happened, it seems an appropriate addition to the article. ---Anon.
- Haha. I added that, but got an edit conflict notice -- you had done it about three seconds earlier. Anyway, if Drudge doesn't give more sources by the end of the day or so, we should probably remove it, as there's currently no evidence that anyone except one Republican strategist finds it offensive. --zenohockey 16:06, 31 October 2005 (UTC)
- Sounds fair to me. ---Anon.
Opinion selection
Just a thought from a first-year law student -- it seems to me that the opinions selected to represent Alito's POV are intended to mitigate his reputation as a hard-core right-winger. If I didn't have to study for school I'd research it myself...
Regardless of what opinions are mentioned, they should be in the nominations article, not the Bio one. --Paul 16:07, 31 October 2005 (UTC)
- How about this: Someone should go to a liberal blog, People for the American Way's website, etc. Get a half-dozen or so decisions that show Alito as the conservative he surely is. Then, because there shouldn't be this many discrete opinions in the bio article, delete all but a half-dozen conservative opinions. But them in two paragraphs, and structure them by doing something like: Alito is generally regarding as a conservative. For example: [List conservative cases]. However, he has displayed more liberal instincts in some cases. For example: [List liberal cases]. And if you want to put all the rest of the liberal opinions in the nomination article as a counter to Sen. Kennedy's remarks or something, go ahead. Just a thought.--zenohockey 17:04, 31 October 2005 (UTC)
- Well, is that political right-wing? Or judicial conservative? I feel they are two different things. Somehow I feel that the cases selected do not make him out to be politically conservative in all respects. Williams v. Price granted habeus - and don't those who are politically conservative tend to err on the side of keeping people in jail? And he struck down a law banning partial-birth abortions in NJ in Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey v. Farmer. I've already heard the media talk about Fatin v. INS as an example of his "libertarian" views - a puzzling way to put it, but they're right that it's not what one usually associates with political conservatism. Or even judicial conservatism. Certainly, there are more examples of conservatism in that case history, but I question if there's enough to make him "hard-core" anything. I think this guy is more in the mold of Roberts than Scalia. --Trnpkroadwarrior 17:10, 31 October 2005 (UTC)
Catholic, born in New Jersey and being nicknamed "Scalito": any Italian-American roots ?
Anyway, Samuel A. Alito, Jr., the A.:Adriano, Alphonso, Alberto, Antonino (like Scalia), Antonio, Agostino or Apollo ??? 15.00, 31 October 2005 (UTC)
- You know, it could be something mundane like "Arthur", or "Andrew" - after all, his first name is Samuel. BDAbramson T 16:30, 31 October 2005 (UTC)
During the nomination speech, Bush talked about his father being an Italian immigrant, so yes, definitely. His mother, 91 years old, is named Rose, but that's about all I know about her. He is at least half-Italian. --Trnpkroadwarrior 16:54, 31 October 2005 (UTC)
Third Catholic Tony on the Court
- Antonin Scalia
Can anyone write anything here?
- Tony Kennedy
- Samuel Anthony Alito
Then, the second Italian American on the Court ?
- Like Scalia, Alito was born in Trenton, New Jersey.
- Antonin - Anthony.
- Italian Americans, I suppose.
Should these similarities been mentioned in the article ?
- They are mentioned indirectly, with the mention of "Scalito" and how some find that it is derogatory toward the mens' shared Italian heritage. Yes, none of the other justices now serving are Italian-American, and I don't believe there are any Italian-Americans among past justices. I don't think the ethnic similarity to Scalia should be mentioned particularly, because the fact the has something in common with Scalia doesn't really fit in an article about him. Let him be his own person; those concerned with counting Italians on the court can do the tallying themselves. In the context of Scalito, which is relevant because it identifies his judicial philsophy, I suupose it deserves a passing mention, but no more. --Trnpkroadwarrior 16:58, 31 October 2005 (UTC)
- Furthermore, both have black hair and nearly identical receding hairlines (although Scalia's is more pronounced, because he's older). Speaking of which, can we get a better pic of Alito?BDAbramson T 17:01, 31 October 2005 (UTC)
- What have black hair and baldness got to do with anything? Is that some kind of ethnic generalization? If they both had freckles would we be asking if they were both Irish? And would we not feel silly about it afterwards? --Trnpkroadwarrior 17:21, 31 October 2005 (UTC)
- Furthermore, both have black hair and nearly identical receding hairlines (although Scalia's is more pronounced, because he's older). Speaking of which, can we get a better pic of Alito?BDAbramson T 17:01, 31 October 2005 (UTC)
Other's Comments on Alito
- The quotes selected are extremely slanted and clearly intended to suggest that liberals who oppose Alito's appointment are hypocritical. Why are others' opinions even relevant?
Reminder to sign posts
Hello, this is a reminder that it is Wikipedia policy to sign your post on discussion page. Please sign your comment by typing four tildes (~~~~). Thanks, Johntex\talk 17:11, 31 October 2005 (UTC)
Article name
According to Wikipedia:Naming conventions (common names), we use "the most common name of a person or thing that does not conflict with the names of other people or things". I'm moving the article from "Samuel A. Alito, Jr." to simply "Samuel Alito" (that's what CNN is using). Coffee 17:47, 31 October 2005 (UTC)