On church-state issues and beyond, observers paint Bush’s latest court pick
in shades of gray
http://www.njjewishnews.com/njjn.com/110305/njsamuel.html
[excer[t]
NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS
The Book on Samuel
On church-state issues and beyond, observers paint Bush's latest court
pick in shades of gray
by Robert Wiener
NJJN Staff Writer
As religious, political, and civil rights groups fired up their
activists to support or oppose the nomination of Samuel Alito to the
Supreme Court, attorneys in and outside New Jersey's Jewish community
who have had professional relationships with the Trenton-born jurist
praise his intelligence and integrity — even as they differ over his
rulings on thorny First Amendment issues and other areas of social
concern.
And on at least one hot-button issue, the separation of church and
state, the clarity of Alito's record fades to gray.
Some were unequivocal about President George W. Bush's second pick to
fill the seat being vacated by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
"From a Jewish perspective, it's not good," said Frank Askin, who runs
the Constitutional Litigation Clinic and teaches civil procedure,
election law, and public interest advocacy at Rutgers School of Law in
Newark. "I don't think he has a commitment to separation of church and
state."
Although Askin has never appeared before Alito at the United States
Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, he believes the judge "has a
reputation of being very smart, a nice guy, not bombastic, very
ethical. Nobody has ever challenged his credentials. He's very competent.
"He's very conservative," continued Askin. "It's an ideological fight."
Alito has upheld religious freedoms in cases supported across the
spectrum of the Jewish community, including 2001's Abramson v. William
Paterson College, in which he strongly defended a Jewish employee's
right to Sabbath observance.
"Judge Alito has been a strong defender of religious liberty as
guaranteed by the First Amendment," Jeffrey Berkowitz, White House
liaison to the Jewish community, wrote in an e-mail within minutes of
the announcement.
[end excerpt]
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Posting and reading from alt.politics.usa.constitution OR alt.education
You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the U.S. and a couple from overseas as well]
***************************************************************
.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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