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Alito and the Death Penalty

by TChris

Two law professors, Goodwin Liu and Lynsay Skiba, have authored a white paper (pdf) for the indispensable American Constitution Society, exploring Judge Alito�s approach to death penalty reviews during his tenure on the Court of Appeals. Here�s a synopsis (received via email):

In their paper, "Judge Alito and the Death Penalty," Liu and Skiba examine in detail the five capital cases in which Judge Alito disagreed with his colleagues during his tenure on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Liu and Skiba note that Judge Alito has voted to uphold a death sentence in each of these five capital cases. They conclude that, in doing so, Judge Alito "dilute[ed] norms of basic fairness" by taking controversial positions outside-the- mainstream of judicial thought. After noting the implications of both Judge Alito's judicial methodology and his ideology for his jurisprudence relating to the death penalty and the War on Terror, Liu and Skiba propose a series of specific questions that they suggest Senators on the Judiciary Committee pose to the nominee during the upcoming hearings on his nomination.

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    Re: Alito and the Death Penalty (none / 0) (#1)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:59 PM EST
    From the post:
    They conclude that, in doing so, Judge Alito "dilute[ed] norms of basic fairness" by taking controversial positions outside-the- mainstream of judicial thought.
    I would have more confidence in the author of the whitepaper if it showed that Alito took positions that were non-constitutional or not lawful. What you have here is an opinion. Both mine and the author's.

    Re: Alito and the Death Penalty (none / 0) (#2)
    by soccerdad on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:59 PM EST
    What you have here is an opinion. Both mine and the author's
    Not all opinions are created equal!

    Re: Alito and the Death Penalty (none / 0) (#3)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:07:01 PM EST
    How many Americans have the opinion that the sun goes around the earth? 20%?