Alito

After the most partisan Supreme Court battle in more than a decade, Samuel A. Alito Jr. was sworn in Tuesday as the 110th justice on the nation's highest court, where he is expected to usher in a new era of judicial conservatism. He took the oath minutes after the Senate voted 58 to 42 to confirm him to succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a Republican nominee who became the court's pivotal swing vote on such issues as abortion and gay rights.

A Democratic attempt to filibuster the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. ended in failure Monday, with almost half of the Senate's Democrats voting against it -- an outcome that cleared the way for Alito's confirmation to a seat on the high court today. Massachusetts Sens. John F. Kerry and Edward M.

Twenty-five years ago, President Reagan came to Washington with bold plans to move the Supreme Court to the right. He and his lawyers wanted a high court that would uphold state laws that impose the death penalty, restrict abortion and allow a greater role for religion in public life. They favored property rights over environmental regulation, states' rights over broad federal authority and executive power over Congress and the federal courts.

Democrats lined up Friday for and against a last-ditch effort to block the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr., with some supporting the call for a filibuster even as they acknowledged it was unlikely to succeed. "Everyone knows there are not enough votes to support a filibuster," said Democratic leader Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, who said he would nonetheless vote against ending debate on the president's choice to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

ONCE UPON A TIME, Americans lived by a few simple maxims: God, country and family. Children respected their parents; students listened to their teachers; citizens followed the law. Then along came the 1960s, when liberal elites undermined traditional sources of authority. College kids smoked dope, feminists burned their bras and black militants burned down the cities. So now we have welfare, divorce, crime and a sick society that has lost its moral compass.

A group of Senate Democrats decided Thursday to launch a last-ditch filibuster effort to block the confirmation of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court, a move they acknowledged would be an uphill fight. Alito's confirmation appears all but certain -- more than half of the Senate's 100 members have announced they would vote for him. Along with nearly unanimous support from the chamber's 55 Republicans, Alito on Thursday picked up the backing of two Democrats -- Sens. Robert C.

In an exchange of speeches that increasingly focused on presidential powers and whether President Bush had exceeded them, the Senate on Wednesday began formal debate on the nomination of Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court. No date has been set for a Senate vote, although Democrats and Republicans have said they think it will be before the president's State of the Union address Tuesday.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday endorsed the Supreme Court nomination of Samuel A. Alito Jr. in a vote that split along party lines and highlighted disputes over his conservative judicial record. The full Senate will begin its debate on Alito today and a vote on his selection by President Bush to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor could come by the end of the week. Alito is expected to narrowly win confirmation and, as a justice, tilt the court to the right.

Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., President Bush's nominee to the Supreme Court, is expected to clear his first congressional hurdle today when the Senate Judiciary Committee votes to recommend his confirmation -- setting the stage for consideration in the full Senate as early as this week. Each vote is expected to divide largely along party lines.