Supreme Court Justice Profile: Samuel Alito

Previously, we talked about the life and works of Justice Elena Kagan. In today’s post, we’re going discuss on another Supreme Court Justice, Samuel Alito.

Considered one of the most conservative justices in the U.S. Supreme Court, Alito is the second Italian-American justice to be nominated to the position, the first being Antonin Scalia.

Below are facts on Associate Justice Samuel Alito.

Samuel Alito 

Born: April 1, 1950

Profession: Laywer, Judge

Alma Mater:

Princeton University, 1972

Yale Law School, 1975

History:

Born in New Jersey’s capital, Trenton, to Samuel Alito Sr. and Rose Fradusco, Alito attended Steinert High School based in Hamilton. After his secondary education, he went to Princeton where in 1972, he graduated from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

After earning his A.B. at Princeton, he attended Yale Law School and became the editor of the Yale Law Journal.  He earned his Juris Doctor in 1975.

Having graduated from Yale, Alito became a clerk for a federal judge for about a year. Later, he became Assistant Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 1977 to 1981. He then became assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General until 1985, the year he was appointed a deputy assistant attorney general.

He then became the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey in 1987 until 1990, the time when he was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Alito was nominated by President George W. Bush into the Supreme Court in 2005, where his nomination was met with criticism among liberal groups, asserting that he was too conservative. But even then, he was sworn into the position in 2006 through a unanimous vote, where he continues to serve.

Some works:

Morse v. Frederick

Concerning the First Amendment not suppressing student speech promoting drug use.

Gomez-Perez v. Potter

Concerning claims of retaliation due to age discrimination complaints.

Snyder v. Phelps

That speech on a public sidewalk about a public issue cannot be faulted for civil wrong of emotional distress.

References:

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito – Biography by Kathy Gill, About.com

Samuel A. Alito, U.s. Library of Congress

Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr., The Supreme Court, PBS.org