WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. sought to distance himself Tuesday from conservative political opinions he expressed more than 20 years ago, stressing in his confirmation hearing that good judges did not allow personal views to color their legal judgments.
But his comments were greeted with skepticism by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who said Alito's views as a Reagan administration lawyer probably signaled how he would rule as a justice -- especially on abortion.
On his first day of questioning by the committee, Alito changed the script used by some previous high court nominees -- including Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. -- who frustrated lawmakers by declining to answer questions on various legal issues because, they said, they might have to rule on them. By contrast, in a steady, dispassionate voice, Alito offered more expansive replies.
Several queries focused on whether the president had the right to skirt federal laws on the treatment of prisoners of war or on warrantless wiretaps.
The issues have been spotlighted recently by White House efforts to block a congressional ban on torturing "enemy combatants" and the revelation that after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, President Bush authorized wiretapping inside the United States without court approval.
"One of the most solemn responsibilities of the president -- and it's set out expressly in the Constitution -- is that the president is to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, and that means the Constitution," Alito said. "It means statutes. It means treaties. It means all of the laws of the United States."
On another subject, Alito stopped short of disavowing his past view that the Constitution did not protect the right to an abortion, but said that on the high court he would keep in mind rulings to the contrary. A federal abortion right was first established by the Supreme Court in its 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision.
Alito, 55, expressed disagreement with the ruling in his 1985 application for a promotion in the Justice Department -- a document Democrats on the Judiciary Committee repeatedly referred to Tuesday.
The federal appeals court judge said that as a Supreme Court justice, he would maintain an open mind when hearing cases, including those on abortion rights.
"When someone becomes a judge, you really have to put aside the things that you did as a lawyer at prior points in your legal career and think about legal issues the way a judge thinks about legal issues," Alito said.
