Will Dunham

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Justice Samuel Alito, who served 16 years as a U.S. Supreme Court justice, has earned a solid reputation for being a conservative on a variety of issues. He opposed abortion and LGBT rights, and he supported religious liberty and gun right.

Alito (72-year-old) was sworn to office Jan. 31, 2006 as the leaked draft of Alito’s opinion in a Mississippi major abortion case. The opinion, which would invalidate the 1972 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized the procedure, is a copy of the original 1973 Roe v. Wade.

To replace Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female justice of the court’s Supreme Court, he was named by George W. Bush (Republican).

Bush’s White House counsel Harriet Miers resigned, and he became the nominee after Bush’s second choice Harriet Miers resigned amid a storm from conservatives. They feared, among others, that Miers was not enough against abortion rights.

Bush turned then to Alito, who’s conservative record as an appellate judge in federal courts prompted Democrats not to support him in the U.S. Senate.

He was confirmed by the Senate with a vote of 58 votes to 42. The Senate’s approval was widely hailed as a significant victory for conservatives, who were trying to put the court on the rightward path. Now, there is a conservative majority at the court with Alito, Clarence Thomas and Clarence Thomas. They were appointed by Bush in 1991.

Alito was in the minority of major Supreme Court decisions in recent years that supported abortion rights.

In 2016, the court voted 5-3 to reject a Republican-backed Texas law. It sought restrictions on abortion clinics and physicians, which could have led to some clinics closing. On a 5-4 vote in 2020, the court struck down a Louisiana Republican-backed law that had similar restrictions on physicians.

Alito stated that Louisiana’s abortion law is recognized and used as a bulldozer for removing legal obstacles.

Alito stated that today’s case has created new victims. The divided majority can’t agree on the definition of abortion, but the court strikes down the Louisiana law that was passed for the stated purpose of protecting women’s health.

Because they violated Roe v. Wade (which recognized the constitutional rights of a woman to end her pregnancy) and subsequent Louisiana decisions that affirmed Roe, both Texas and Louisiana’s rulings were invalid.

Alito, who was one of the conservative justices in oral arguments in Mississippi last December, dismissed the idea that the court should be cautious in overturning its precedents.

Alito suggested during argumentation that “So there are situations in which a judgment… must not be made simply because it is egregiously incorrect at the time it has been decided.”

According to Politico which published a copy of the Mississippi draft opinion, Alito stated that Roe “was egregiously incorrect from the beginning.” It is expected that the court will issue its decision by June end.

RELIGIOUS RIGHTS

Alito wrote a significant 2014 ruling with 5-4 votes. This decision touched on religious liberty and corporate rights as well as the signature healthcare law of then-President Barack Obama.

Alito said that Hobby Lobby Stores Ltd owned by Christian Christians could raise a religious objection against an Obamacare provision that requires that employees have health insurance to cover birth control.

Alito was supportive of the belief that privately-owned corporations may have religious objections. However, Alito noted that the protection of corporate rights “protects religious liberty for the people who own or control these corporations.”

Alito was among two people who voted against Obamacare’s invalidation by the Court of Appeals in 2021. This decision, which came in 7-2, saw the rejection of a Republican attempt to repeal it.

Alito authored a 5-to-4 ruling in 2010 expanding gun rights. He wrote that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees an individual’s right to keep and bear arm. This applies to both state and local gun laws. It was built on an earlier ruling two years ago that struck down the District of Columbia’s most restrictive gun control law.

Alito, who was part of the majority in 2013, overturned a crucial section of the Voting rights Act. This 1965 law protected Black voters against discriminatory acts. Alito lost the 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage across the country.

Alito was the son of a Trenton school principal and an Italian immigrant dad. Alito graduated from Princeton University with an undergraduate degree and a Yale Law degree. After clerking for a federal judge, Alito became a federal prosecutions.

In 1980, he served as the assistant to the solicitor general. This was under Republican President Ronald Reagan. Republican President George H.W. Bush appointed him an appellate judge on September 1, 1990.