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Bush Picks Conservative Judge Samuel Alito Who Endorsed Abortion
Restrictions for Supreme Court
Former CIA Agent Larry Johnson: Bush Should Ask for Karl
Rove's Resignation Over CIA Leak
Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks Lies in Honor in Capitol
Rotunda
Bush Picks Conservative Judge Samuel Alito Who Endorsed
Abortion Restrictions for Supreme Court
President Bush nominated federal appeals judge Samuel Alito
Jr. to the Supreme Court Monday, just four days after Harriet
Miers withdrew her nomination. The 55-year-old Alito is widely
seen as a judicial conservative who has been nicknamed "Scalito"
for his philosophical similarities to Justice Antonin Scalia.
In 1991, Alito backed a Pennsylvania law that required women
to inform their husbands before they sought an abortion. His
support came in the form of a dissenting vote in the landmark
case Planned Parenthood v. Casey. [includes rush
transcript]
President Bush has nominated appeals Court Judge Samuel Alito
for the U.S. Supreme Court. Alito is a former U.S. attorney
who has been a judge for 15 years. He is considered a favorite
of the conservative movement and will replace retiring Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor on the bench.
The choice of Alito comes after Harriet Miers, withdrew her
nomination Thursday after coming under intense criticism from
the Christian Right and many Republican senators who questioned
her qualifications and record.
Unlike Miers, who has never been a judge, Alito has been
a strong conservative voice on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals in Philadelphia since former President George H.W.
Bush seated him there in 1990.
He has been dubbed "Scalito" or "Scalia-lite"
by some lawyers because his conservative judicial philosophy
invites comparisons to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
In 1991, Alito wrote the lone dissenting opinion in Planned
Parenthood v. Casey, a case striking down a Pennsylvania law
that imposes numerous restrictions on women seeking abortions.
The law, among other things, required physicians to advise
women of the potential medical dangers of abortion and tell
them of the alternatives available. It also imposed a 24-hour
waiting period for abortions and barred minors from obtaining
abortions without parental consent. In that same ruling, the
panel struck down a single provision in the law requiring
women to notify their husband's before they obtained an abortion.
Alito dissented from that part of the decision. He wrote,
"The Pennsylvania legislature could have rationally believed
that some married women are initially inclined to obtain an
abortion without their husbands" knowledge because of
perceived problems -- such as economic constrains, future
plans, or the husbands" previously expressed opposition
-- that may be obviated by discussion prior to abortion."
The case ultimately reached the Supreme Court, which upheld
the appeals court decision, disagreed with Alito and also
used the case to reaffirm its support for Roe v. Wade, the
1973 decision legalizing abortion.
Alito has also been criticized by women's rights organizations
for his 1996 dissent in a sex discrimination case, Sheridan
v. Dupont. In that case, he argued that Third Circuit that
had made it too easy for discrimination complaints to reach
a jury trial.
Alito has been consistently supportive of conservative views
in cases involving issues of church and state. He wrote a
majority opinion in ACLU v. Schundler, holding that a city's
holiday display that included a creche and menorah did not
violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
Last night, Senate minority leader Harry Reid said Alito
"is not one of the names that I've suggested to the president.
In fact, I've done the opposite. I think it would create a
lot of problems."
- President Bush, nominates Samuel Alito for the U.S. Supreme
Court from the White House.
- Judge Samuel Alito, accepting his nomination to the Supreme
Court.
Former CIA Agent Larry Johnson: Bush Should Ask for
Karl Rove's Resignation Over CIA Leak
Lewis "Scooter" Libby resigned on Friday after
being indicted on five counts of obstruction of justice, perjury
to a grand jury and making false statements to FBI agents
during the CIA leak investigation. President Bush's chief
advisor Karl Rove has so far escaped indictment for his role
in the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. We speak with
former CIA agent, Larry Johnson. [includes rush
transcript]
For the first time in 130 years, a White House staff member
has been indicted for crimes committed in the office. On Friday,
Lewis "Scooter" Libby was indicted on five counts
of obstruction of justice, perjury to a grand jury and making
false statements to FBI agents during the CIA leak investigation.
He resigned following the indictments.
If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison and $1.25
million in fines. According to the indictment, Libby lied
to the grand jury when he claimed that he learned of the identity
of CIA operative Valerie Plame from NBC News Tim Russert in
early July. In fact, investigators determined Libby learned
of Plame from Cheney, State Department officials and a CIA
briefer more than a month earlier. President Bush's chief
advisor Karl Rove has so far escaped indictment for his role
in the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame, the wife of
Ambassador Joseph Wilson.
Until Friday Libby was a central figure in the Bush White
House holding three top positions: chief of staff to Vice
President Cheney, national security adviser to the vice president
and assistant to the president. Special Prosecutor Patrick
Fitzgerald announced the indictment on Friday.
According to the Washington Post, Karl Rove narrowly escaped
indictment after providing new information during eleventh-hour
negotiations with Fitzgerald. But sources told the paper that
he could still be charged in the case. On Sunday Senate Minority
Leader Harry Reid called on Rove to resign. Reid pointed out
that President Bush had previously said anyone involved in
the leak should resign.
In a few minutes we will speak with former CIA analyst Larry
Johnson but first we will hear part of special prosecutor
Patrick Fitzgerald's press conference on Friday when he laid
out the case against Libby.
- Patrick Fitzgerald, U.S. special prosecutor, October
28, 2005.
- Larry Johnson, former CIA agent and former deputy director
in the US State Department's office of counter-terrorism
Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks Lies in Honor in
Capitol Rotunda
The body of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks was flown to
Washingon DC Sunday night to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda.
She is the first woman and second African American to lie
in state. We speak with the Rev. Joseph and author Diane McWhorter
and we go back to 1956 to air a rare interview with Parks
aired on Pacifica Radio's KPFA. [includes rush
transcript]
Today, the body of civil rights pioneer, Rosa Parks lies
in honor in the Captiol Rotunda in Washington D.C. She is
the first woman and only the second African-American to receive
the honor, usually reserved for Presidents, soldiers and politicians.
Last Monday, Parks died at the age of 92 at her home in Detroit,
Michigan. It was 50 years ago this December that Parks refused
to relinquish her seat to a white man aboard a city bus in
Montgomery, Alabama. She was arrested and convicted of violating
the state's segregation laws. Her act of resistance led to
a 13-month boycott of the Montgomery bus system that would
spark the civil rights movement and inspire freedom struggles
all over the world. The bus boycott would also help transform
a 26-year-old preacher named Martin Luther King Junior to
national prominence.
This past weekend, thousands were in Montgomery, Alabama
for Parks' memorial service. On Saturday, mourners streamed
past her open coffin to pay their last respects. On Sunday
a service was held at St. Paul AME church where Parks was
a member at the time of her arrest. Speakers included Secretary
of State, Condoleezza Rice, the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev.
Jesse Jackson.
- Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State, speaking October
30, 2005 in Washington DC.
- Rev. Al Sharpton, October 30, 2005 in Washington DC.
Last night, Rosa Parks' body was flown to Washington D.C
where it lies in state at the Capitol Rotunda. Public viewing
will take place today in the Rotunda and a memorial service
will be held for Rosa Parks in D.C at the Metropolitan AME
Church. Her funeral will take place on Wednesday in Detroit,
Michigan.
- Rosa Parks, interviewed in April 1956 by Pacifica radio
station KPFA. The interview comes from the Pacifica
Radio Archives.
- Diane McWhorter, author of "Carry Me Home: Birmingham,
Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution"
which won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize and a young-adult history
of the Movement, "A Dream of Freedom"
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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