Contact: Contact: Mark Coyle or Sean McCabe at 703-683-5004 (ext. 130-Coyle, ext. 110-McCabe)
November 17, 2005
Washington, D.C. - Wendy E. Long, counsel to The Judicial Confirmation Network (www.judicialnetwork.com), today made the following statement on the latest left-wing attack ad on Supreme Court nominee Judge Sam Alito:
"Extremist liberal groups want to derail the civility and substance that has characterized Judge Alito's bipartisan reception in the Senate. Because Senators Snowe, Feinstein, Collins, Lieberman, and many others -- both Republican and Democrat -- have been impressed by Judge Alito in their meetings with him and have had good words, the liberal left attack machine has kicked into high gear. The question is, will these extremists pull reasonable moderates over the cliff with them in this nasty and deceptive campaign against Judge Alito?
"People for the American Way, Alliance for Justice, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights - all inaptly and deceptively named, as they have little to do with the 'American Way,' 'justice,' or 'civil rights,' although they could be fairly characterized as the "leadership" of the ultra left liberal attack machine - have no qualms about putting out wild inaccuracies and distortions to smear one of the country's leading judges, Sam Alito. Judge Alito is universally regarded by those who know him on all sides of the political spectrum to be a brilliant, hardworking, fair, neutral, and impartial judge who is bound by honor to the law: completely the opposite of what these groups want, which is a liberal judicial activist who will essentially impose their far left liberal policy agenda on Americans through the Supreme Court. President Bush will never nominate the kind of Justice these groups want.
"Their ad released today is reminiscent of the attack ad on Chief Justice Roberts claiming that he supported abortion clinic bombers. Here we go again. Now, they claim that Judge Alito "approved" a "strip search of a 10 year-old girl," and that he "pushed to narrow the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable search and seizure." This gross and deliberate misrepresentation proves that, as the Left has boasted, it will do anything, including lying, to attack Judge Alito. Here's the truth about the Doe v. Groody case, to which this particular lie refers: the case involved a suit against some police officers, by plaintiffs whose home and persons had been searched as part of a long-term narcotics investigation. The scope of the Fourth Amendment was not even at issue in the case. The only issue was one of "qualified immunity" for the police officers: that is, whether the plaintiffs could collect money damages from the police because their rights were violated, or whether search was covered by the warrant in the case, or even if reasonable police officers might in good faith think that it was authorized.
"Not only are the technical legal issues in the Doe v. Groody case completely misrepresented, but the larger issue is also turned on its head. The liberal coalition running the attack ad wants Americans to think that Judge Alito was somehow in favor of humiliating an innocent 10 year-old girl. Apparently, the liberals contend that children cannot be searched under the Constitution. This rule would amount to a "get out of jail free" card for drug dealers who use young children to stash drugs. We know drug dealers already use children to hide drugs and contraband to evade searches by law enforcement. Apparently the liberals just want to give drug dealers a greater incentive to abuse children in this way. One does not know if there are drugs on the child until she is searched - in this case, the daughter of a long-suspected drug dealer, in the drug dealer's home, was searched respectfully and gently by a female police officer, in the presence of the child's mother.
"Just yesterday, in Philadelphia, the AP reports that a kindergarten teacher found eight bags of heroin in a five year-old student's pocket. The police say that the mother could be charged, and a school spokesman says they are shocked and outraged that a parent could place a child in such danger. But the left-wing liberal pressure groups out to destroy Judge Alito would trample the interests and safety of children in their mad rush to attack the Judge on some bogus Fourth Amendment ground."
"It's no surprise that representatives of these liberal groups are trying to pressure Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid to leading a filibuster against Judge Alito. They think they can strong-arm the whole Democratic Party and the Senate from doing its job and giving Judge Alito a fair up-or-down vote for the Supreme Court. Howard Dean, George Soros, Norman Lear, and the New York-Hollywood crowd tried hard to pull down Chief Justice Roberts, and this time they intend to lie and distort and attack Judge Alito even more viciously.
"But the American people have said overwhelmingly that they want a fair and dignified judicial confirmation process. They want honest questions, not deceptive attacks. And they want Senators to do their jobs in evaluating and voting on Judge Alito's nomination to the United States Supreme Court."
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