Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) continued to grill Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito on Wednesday, citing testimony Tuesday in which Alito said he would have an open mind if faced with the question of abortion on the Supreme Court. The senator said the nominee’s writings and testimony suggested otherwise, with “a mind that sadly is closed in some instances.”
Chief Justice John Roberts has described Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling, as settled law. Alito said the ruling “is an important precedent of the Supreme Court,” but he declined Durbin’s repeated prodding to use the term “settled law.”
Asked repeatedly about abortion, he assured the committee on Tuesday he would first take previous rulings into account. At the same time, he stressed that precedent, including the Roe v. Wade decision, is not binding on the high court.
“I would approach the question with an open mind and I would listen to the arguments that were made,” Alito said.
On another subject, he said Tuesday that the Bill of Rights applies “in times of war and in times of national crisis,” although he declined to specify whether Bush acted properly in ordering wiretaps without warrants in selected cases as part of the war on terror.
Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) first mentioned Alito’s membership in the Concerned Alumni of Princeton, a group that opposed admission of increased numbers of women and minorities.
“I really have no specific recollection of that organization,” Alito said, although he did not dispute that he belonged to it.