Previous coverage of Supreme Court
Samuel Alito Jr. was sworn in yesterday as the 110th justice of the U.S. Supreme Court after a bitterly divided Senate confirmed him despite anxieties over his views on abortion rights, gun control and presidential power.
When Samuel Alito slips on his new black robe later this month, he will face a quick test on how he will rule on two of the most controversial issues before the Supreme Court: the reach of Congress' law-making power and the extent of the president's executive authority.
Samuel Alito is expected to be confirmed as the Supreme Court's 110th justice today after an improvised, last-ditch filibuster attempt by Senate liberals flopped yesterday.
Senate judiciary panel votes along party lines for Alito; Democrats to discuss their options today
Alito testified at his confirmation hearings he'd just follow the law, but experts still say he will move court to right
As Alito ends his testimony without a misstep, Democrats appear to have little hope of stopping him
Tensions run high in second day, as Alito says Roe v. Wade is still in play, senators clash over subpoenas
Not since the Senate rejected Robert Bork in 1987 has a nominee for the Supreme Court come to confirmation hearings with a statement of opposition to abortion as clear as Samuel Alito's.
Samuel Alito has had nearly five years to think about this day, the day on which his opening remarks would set the tone for a week of Senate hearings on his nomination to the Supreme Court.
Republicans say they will tout the high court nominee's credentials, including a unanimous top rating from ABA
Supreme Court nominee's opening remarks during Senate hearings this week will set the tone
Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's views on the scope of presidential power and the courts' role in checking that power have emerged as a top target for Democrats in next week's Senate confirmation hearings.
Memo he wrote in '84 reveals he backed official who ordered warrantless wiretap of group in 1970
The Sierra Club and other green groups plan to announce their opposition to Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito in mid-December because of concerns he might undermine Congress' ability to pass environmental laws, according to an internal club memo obtained by Newsday.
A newly released 1985 memo outlining a strategy to eventually overturn Roe v. Wade that Samuel Alito wrote as an influential Reagan administration attorney raises new questions about how he might vote on abortion cases as a Supreme Court justice.
Memo from 1985 quotes high court nominee saying Constitution doesn't protect abortion, taking stand against affirmative action
He defends his hearing of appeals involving investment firms despite 1990 pledge to Senate
Highlighting a question of ethics, Senate Democrats yesterday sought details about Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's participation as an appellate judge in a 2002 appeal involving the Vanguard Group mutual funds.
Judicial nominee Alito favors individual rights in religion-based claims vs. other cases, say observers
Records show court nominee failed to recuse himself from a case involving a brokerage firm in which he had invested
The bipartisan Gang of 14, which averted judicial Armageddon in the Senate last summer, won't be torn apart by internal rancor over Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito, senators predicted yesterday.
Data show number of prosecutions by his office dipped 30% in his first year as Jersey's U.S. attorney
As Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito made his courtesy calls to senators yesterday, Republicans got a preview of what Democrats might do should the conservative jurist's nomination touch off a nuclear meltdown of the Senate.
Latest nominee to replace O'Connor has conservative support, but Democrats wary of abortion, other votes
In February 1991, newly minted federal appeals court judge Samuel Alito sat in judgment of a case that some thought would soon end a woman's legal right to abortion.
COURT NOMINATION
Appeals court jurist, often compared to Scalia, leads nominees, according to conservative activists
With Miers gone after conservative revolt, president searches for new nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice OConnor
ANALYSIS
For President George W. Bush, it's the political equivalent of tearing off a Band-Aid quickly - pulling Harriet Miers' Supreme Court nomination as the White House braces for possible indictments today.
ANALYSIS
Weak spots showed up early in sit-downs with senators who were to grill her later
The withdrawal of Harriet Miers' nomination for U.S. Supreme Court justice could have been rooted in a dispute over executive privilege, some area legal scholars said yesterday.
Supreme Court nominee adds more information following Senate protests of incomplete answers
Court nominee expressed her views in political questionnaire; it remains unclear how she'd rule as justice
Responding to written Senate questions yesterday, Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers failed to list among her former business activities her role as a board member and investor in a for-profit human resources firm formed with her evangelical Christian church's minister and his wife.
Senator said that candidate either withheld her opinions or didn't have enough knowledge to answer questions
Court nominee had to reimburse Texas city for failing to clear weeds, debris from vacant lots
For years conservative and liberal legal groups have been gearing up for the biggest battle over a Supreme Court nomination since 1987, when Robert Bork's appointment was defeated in the Senate.
Bush comment on nominee's religion comes as he tries to quell a rebellion on the right
Senators yesterday demanded disclosure of the secret that top Bush aide Karl Rove told a conservative activist last week to reassure him about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, but the White House insisted there is no secret to divulge.
In a switch from Roberts' confirmation hearings, nervous conservatives now want to know her stand
Court nominee's battle a decade ago on behalf of Texas bar is her only documented position on abortion
Bush responds to conservatives bewildered by his naming of Miers as court nominee
Twelve years ago, Dallas political strategist Jim Francis was looking for a well-known woman to add as ammunition to George W. Bush's campaign to defeat Texas' popular Democratic incumbent woman governor, Ann Richards.
Nominee to replace OConnor is counsel to White House, angers conservatives while Dems appear pleased
ANALYSIS
In the end, President George W. Bush blinked.
As a prominent corporate lawyer in conservative Dallas for 28 years, Harriet Miers was a pioneer for women lawyers. But unlike most recent Supreme Court nominees, she has never had to face the touchstone social issues that come before the court.
Local observers say lack of experience as a jurist is no liability for attorney because she's a government insider

