can we have harriet back?

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from the "are you fucking kidding?" section of NOW's mailing list:

Referred to as "Scalito" for his philosophical resemblance to Justice Antonin Scalia, federal appeals court Judge Alito is a clear opponent of reproductive freedom, protections for workers, and other individual rights. In Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, Alito authored a solo 1991 dissent supporting a state law that required women to inform their husbands before being permitted to obtain an abortion. In his opinion, Alito brushed aside the concern that battered women could face serious consequences if forced to discuss abortion with a violent spouse, saying that the evidence "provides no basis for determining how many women would be adversely affected." The Supreme Court rejected his position in 1992.

Alito's decisions in a number of other cases demonstrate a rigid adherence to "states rights" at the expense of those facing sex and race discrimination and other civil rights violations. In one opinion, Chittister v. Department of Community & Economic Development, Alito said Congress has no authority to penalize state governments for failing to comply with the Family and Medical Leave Act. Even the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist disagreed with this opinion and the Supreme Court reversed Alito's ruling by a 6 to 3 vote.

Judge Alito's lone dissent in Sheridan v. E.I. Dupont de Nemours & Company indicated that he would add difficult evidentiary hurdles for women who sue for sex discrimination in the workplace under Title VII. His dissent in Bray v. Marriott Hotels was described by the majority opinion as an attempt to "eviscerate" use of Title VII in race discrimination cases by imposing almost impossible evidentiary burdens on plaintiffs. Sadly these are just a few of Judge Alito's many opinions which confirm our conclusion that if Judge Alito ascends to the Supreme Court, civil rights and women's rights will be in peril. Alito's record is also replete with decisions attacking the separation of church and state, and permitting discrimination against people with disabilities, seniors and immigrants.

1 Comments

Eat My Shorts said:

Yeah, this shit is suspect. Time to move to Cuba.

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