By all accounts he is a low-key, pleasant man who respects disagreement and does not insult his colleagues on the bench. He is a cautious craftsman who takes small discrete steps towards his objectives rather than daring leaps. Where the law is hard and clear, he does not defy it or try to amend it judicially – though of course as a Supreme Court justice he will have scope to modify even well-settled law.
But wherever there is running room – opened up by gaps in application, conflicts in precedents, ambiguities in statutes – Alito is an activist who works steadily to push the law well beyond conventional boundaries of precedent.
The article delves into the issue of Alito’s views on executive power. Indeed, that issue seems to be a big one in the Alito hearings. But while Alito would likely be on the Court for at least 25 years, Bush has only three years left in office; today’s current events will eventually fade away. Or will they? Until recently, abuse of executive power hadn’t been a big issue since the Nixon years. It could be that the issue is just inherent in Bush’s and Cheney’s style of management and will disappear when the next president (either Democrat or Republican) comes to power with his or her own people and governing philosophy. On the other hand, fear of terrorism is probably going to be with us for a long time, even after Bush leaves office, and the presidency changes people. So executive power could continue to be a big issue from now on. It bears looking at – along with all the other issues, of course.