Welcome Supreme Court Justice Alito

Supreme Court Justice Alito. That is how Mr. Samuel Alito will be referred to from now on. I don’t think that is such a bad thing. Many liberals disagree. I haven’t said anything about it for some time but I think (while probably mote) this is a decent time.

The first thing I should say is I am not in love with all the positions Justice Alito has taken. Then again few ever agree in total with any Supreme Court Justice on all the decisions they have made over their careers prior to appointment. There are several cases I do agree with strongly though, and several I have mixed feelings on. Not being a lawyer I can only say what I think the law should be like, which is overly simplified compared to how complicated laws are today. It should also be mentioned that Harriet Miers was a terrible choice and the thought of her as a Justice scared the crap out of me.

One item that was a big red flag for some, was Justice Alito’s position on abortion. Several look at his dissenting opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey to be a key to his views against abortion. Whether true or not, his exact position makes sense to me and I agree with it. Justice Alito wrote, “that some married women are initially inclined to obtain an abortion without their husbands' knowledge because of perceived problems -- such as economic constraints, future plans, or the husbands' previously expressed opposition -- that may be obviated by discussion prior to the abortion." When you are speaking about a married family (or a family in general I think) I find it selfish and wrong for either party to unilaterally make a decision. It takes 2 to create a family and the decision not to should involve both. [And no I do not agree that the body of a pregnant woman is solely hers. The baby has a right to it as well, to a lesser degree, as that is what a woman’s body is designed to do. By that same right, a man has rights as well as part of his genetic life force created that baby.] This does not mean there should be no abortion, I just think there should be equal notification to a husband so the married couple can make an informed and agreed upon decision. That’s not evil, its equality.

I don’t like the Family and Medical Leave Act. I understand why its out there, but I don’t like it. While most of the time it tends to be used by employees that plan ahead, life has no plan and some are forced to take it unexpectedly. In those cases the employer must find a qualified replacement, train them, overwork other employees to cover the sudden gap and pay overtime to do so, see if the new employee works out, and pay extra to the healthcare plan and taxes for an extra employee. When the old employee comes back, you can just fire the new one (this presumes that a temp was not used, many jobs can’t use a temp. Also the cost of a temp is not cheap as you pay their salary and the agency’s) but you must give them their job or an equivalent one. In small companies there are no equivalent positions, and extra people are just that extra cost and overhead often with no real use or benefit.

And another big one is the sex discrimination case. Perhaps I am wrong for this, but I like Justice Alito’s position here as well. I personally have never been fired [I don’t count when I got into an argument with a boss of mine - about whether or not he would dare fire me - and did so, to teach me that everyone is replaceable. I was rehired 1 hour and 15 minutes later. I was 15 at the time.] nor have I known any friends who have been. Of those I know who have quit a position, and myself as well, I have never known anyone to have any basis for bias as the reason. That does not mean it doesn’t happen, I’m sure there were a few positions I did not get hired for when I had braided hair that went to the middle of my back (at the time it was an uncommon hair style for men, especially in the northeast and at the length it was) or just because I am a Black African Hispanic American. It still happens, even in this ‘modern and fair’ age. Given that, discrimination as a cause for termination is difficult. The emotions and anger some have at being fired is a cause of some suits, the ambiguous matter of some of the workplace rules is another. An example of the latter is a woman at an office workplace has on a shortish skirt. If a man comments on the skirt, positive or negative, its harassment and discrimination. Conversely in the same situation that woman is liable of discrimination against the men because of the skirt. I am not a lawyer as I’ve said before so if I have misunderstood the laws please let me know.

More to the point, accusations without merit and substantiation is a waste of time. Costs spent to bring a frivolous case to court so a jury can decide there is no substance is everyone’s loss. Requesting that some proof beyond I said so can’t hurt. 50 people saying I said so is one thing, but just one person with no other proof sounds like a waste of time and money. Even abuse cases seek additional proof to make their claim, as I understand.

So why is Justice Alito so feared? Why are his decisions so horrible? Or could it be that liberals and others not wielding a majority in government at this time are upset because their political ideology wasn’t enforced like it would have been if they were in charge. If so that’s just sour grapes.

That’s what I think, what do you think?