Washington Times
by Nat Hentoff

11/14/05

Since I am not a member of the Senate Judiciary committee, I have taken the uninvited liberty to suggest a series of questions during the confirmation process of Judge Samuel Alito that bear on Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter's assertion that this nominee for the Supreme Court respects long-range Supreme Court precedents. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus, and after the fact, got Congress to agree. ... [I]n a landmark decision in 1866, Justice David Davis declared the imprisonment was unconstitutional because the civilian courts were still open. He ruled: 'The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and peace, and covers with the shield of its protection all classes of men, at all times, and under all circumstances. The Government, within the Constitution, has all the powers granted to it, which are necessary to preserve its existence.' Does Judge Alito agree, even in this war against terrorism, that the Constitution must be strictly constructed?

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20051113-112008-9702r.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp