Dobson Relates Note From Alito

Focus on the Family founder James C. Dobson said Wednesday that new Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. sent him a letter thanking him and his radio listeners for their support during his Senate confirmation hearings.

Alito wrote that “the prayers of so many people from around the country were a palpable and powerful force,” Dobson said on his radio broadcast.

“As long as I serve on the Supreme Court,” Dobson quoted the letter as saying, “I will keep in mind the trust that has been placed in me.”

Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said Alito’s note was in response to a letter Dobson sent congratulating him on his confirmation. She said his pledge to “keep in mind the trust that has been placed in me” was included in many of his letters responding to congratulatory notes.

Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian advocacy group in Colorado Springs, Colo., says Dobson’s radio show, its other broadcasts and its publications reach more than 200 million people worldwide.