Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has decided Judge Alito "is committed to a radical agenda that threatens Americans' individual rights and freedoms."
In a statement released Wednesday by the DNC, Dean also said the party-line vote put forth by the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday was the Democrats’ way of standing together to protect America from a Supreme Court nominee "outside the mainstream."
An excerpt from Dean's statement is posted below:
"Today, an outside the mainstream nominee who refused to be forthcoming with the Senate moved one step closer to confirmation. Over the course of his confirmation hearings and through an evaluation of his writing and records, Americans learned that Judge Alito is committed to a radical agenda that threatens Americans' individual rights and freedoms. Because Judge Alito simply must not be allowed to use a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court to advance that agenda, Democrats on the Judiciary Committee stood together to protect Americans' individual rights and freedoms in voting against this nomination.
"While Judge Alito dodged legitimate questions about his judicial record and philosophy, his agenda is clear. His troubling support of unchecked executive power, in light of current scandals over the President's domestic spying program, should concern all Americans. He supports intrusive government power over individual liberties, and has failed to protect crucial Family Medical Leave protections. He used legal technicalities to excuse gross sexual harassment, and supported prosecutors who constructed all-white juries to try black defendants. Worse still, Judge Alito broke his promise to the Senate to recuse himself from cases in which he had a clear conflict of interest-a deeply troubling failure in light of the current Republican corruption scandals."
