In Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito Jr.'s confirmation hearings, Democrats focused attention on his role in the Reagan administration -- before his 15 years in the "judicial monastery" smoothed any partisan edges he had. Some voiced concern that, once Alito is freed from the circuit court obligation to obey precedent, those loyalties will resurface and make him the high court's most faithful emissary of the Reagan revolution.
Will they, or won't they? I guess that's the question of the day. But does the mere possibility that Alito might become "the high court's most faithful emissary of the Reagan revolution" provide sufficient justification to try to stop his ascension, or has his 15 years in the "judicial monastery" earned him his place on the Court?
Tony Mauro ponders those questions here in the Legal Times.