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Alito and CAP: More Details

By Jeralyn, Section Sam Alito
Posted on Sat Jan 14, 2006 at 09:43:24 PM EST
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Did Judge Sam Alito tell the truth about CAP at his confirmation hearing? Here are some more details about CAP from Berkely Professor Jerome Karabel, author of The Chosen: The Hidden History of Admission and Exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.

Prof. Karabel asks:

Why, then, in late 1989 -- 13 years after CAP was founded -- would the mild-mannered Samuel Alito tout his membership in such an organization as he sought the job of Deputy Assistant Attorney General?

....In all likelihood, Alito -- who was by all accounts a marginal and inactive member of CAP -- highlighted his membership in the organization for the most prosaic of reasons: he thought that it would signal to the movement conservatives who controlled appointments in the Justice Department that he shared their values and was a member of their network. Alito was not wrong, and in late 1985 -- shortly after Prospect published what turned out to be its last issue -- he received the promotion that helped place him on the path to the Supreme Court.

[graphic created exclusively for TalkLeft by CL.]

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    Alito and CAP: More Details | 2 comments (2 topical)
    Re: Alito and CAP: More Details (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jan 14, 2006 at 11:09:56 PM EST
    Mark Shields speculated on the News Hour:
    I thought the CAP thing was the one place where Judge Alito looked uncomfortable consistently when he was asked about it, and the reason is, my own speculation is he listed it in 1985 on his resume for a credential. I don't think he ever belonged to it; I think he might have gone to one meeting. He sure as hell didn't subscribe -- nothing in his life position has subscribed to it.
    Re: Alito and CAP: More Details (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jan 15, 2006 at 10:14:30 AM EST

    Why, then, in late 1989 … Alito was not wrong, and in late 1985 …

    This was a typo in the original Huffington Post that's repeated here. CAP was founded in 1972, so 13 years later was 1985, when Alito used it on his application to help him get the AG job. FYI.
    Alito and CAP: More Details | 2 comments (2 topical)