SCOTUS Hearings for Sam Alito - Episode II

I'm blogging from my living room this morning as I watch the Alito hearings live on Fox News (once again, for those not acessible to a TV, Fox is running them live online).

As of this moment 10:47 am, Alito has talked with Sen. Specter of PA, Sen. Layhe of VT, and is now talking to Sen. Hatch of UT.

With the Senator from VT, there was discussion of NSA and wiretapping, "administrations above the law" (is the administration above the law and can they counter act the Foregin Intelegence Security Act) cases that have to do with strip searches on kids and women (the case is one in which the man who was originally searched had a MO of hiding drugs on others that happen to be on the premisise so the officers wanted to search others on the premisie and were allowed to do so). The Senator fromVT, jumped all over this and saw the strip searching of a 10 year old as the sticking point. In addition they discussed CAP (Concerned Alumni of Princeton). Here, Alito put on a job application that he was a proud member of such an organization, one that apparently was concerned with the entrance into Princeton of women and minorities. Here's Alito clarified that his concern was that of the "booting" of ROTC from the campus during the Vietnam Era because of anti-war sentidments. The sticking point here, obviously, was that of minorities and women (comming from the VT Senator).

Alito is now talking with Orin Hatch about his instances where he decided against the Executive branch, parrying the blow that came yesterday from Democrats on the commitee, saying that Alito was in favor of the Executive Branch, having worked under Edwin Meese at the Justice Dept. during the Regan Admin. Just prior to this, Hatch and Alito discussed his conduct with the "Vanguard Mutual Fund Issue, bringing to light his high moral and ethical character and how he went way out of his way to remain impartial on a panel that saw a case involving Vanguard, where Alito was on the panel after he said he would not be. Having realized the mistake, he stepped down and advocated a brand new panel be formed, one that saw the issue and ruled the same as the panel that Alito was on.

11:05 - Hatch and Alito just discussed "standards of review", and how such abilities that the court has to review things in previous cases is limited.

11:05 - 15 Minuite Recess...

More to come, same "bat time" same "bat web address"