On October 31,
2005, President George W. Bush named Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. as his
nomination to the open seat on the Supreme Court caused by the
retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
Judge Samuel Alito was born on April 1, 1950 in Trenton, New Jersey, to Samuel Alito Sr. and his wife Rose. During his fifty-five year life, Samuel Alito has enjoyed a long and illustrated career in the judicial system. He began his education at Princeton University, acquiring a Bachelor of Arts degree when he graduated in 1972. Immediately following, Alito enrolled at Yale Law School, where he graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1975. While
a sophomore at Princeton, Judge Alito began service with the Army ROTC
program, eventually entering service with U.S. Army Reserves in 1972,
and was honorably discharged with the rank of Captain in 1980.
His first four posts in the judicial systems spanned from 1976 to 1987. During
this period, Judge Alito held positions such as Law Clerk for Leonard
I. Garth of the Third Circuit Court, Assistant United States Attorney,
District of New Jersey, Assistant to Solicitor General Rex E. Lee, and
Deputy Assistant to Attorney General Edwin Meese. In
1987, George H.W. Bush appointed Samuel Alito to the position of United
States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, a post he held for
three years. In 1990 following his District
Attorney appointment, President H. W. Bush then placed him as a
District Judge on the Third Circuit Court. In his
career to this point, Judge Alito has argued a dozen cases before the
Supreme Court, debated two dozen other court of appeals cases, and
handled fifty other cases, contributing to his experience in the field
of Supreme Court law.
Judge Alito’s appointment to become the 110th Supreme Court Justice fulfills a dream that he expressed while still at Princeton. As quoted from his senior yearbook from the school, “Sam intends to go to law school and eventually to warm a seat on the Supreme Court” (emphasis added). But the journey to an official confirmation to this seat has not been an easy one. The Senate confirmation hearings began on January 9 of this year, and concluded four days later. The arguments within the Senate itself on whether to approve Alito began on January 25. On
January 26, Senator John Kerry called for a filibuster against Judge
Alito’s confirmation, but on Monday the 30th, the Senate disapproved of
the measure by voting 72-25 to avoid a filibuster. Then Tuesday morning, the Senate members finalized Samuel Alito’s confirmation by giving him an approval vote of 58-42.
As Judge Alito takes his office today and continues to serve in
this position during his career, please pray that God will grant him
and his fellow Supreme Court Justices wisdom, morality, and
understanding as to how to decide their toughest cases.
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