Precision

Judicial This week you will hear a great deal of untruth in the news. Some of this will be deliberate lying and sadly, much of it will be lack of precision. Here are a couple: 1. "If you thought that Judge Alito, if confirmed, would vote to make abortions illegal, would you favor or oppose his confirmation?" [question in Harris poll - 1/4/06] 2. "He said, for instance, that a 10-year-old girl could be strip-searched even though the warrant did not call for her to be strip-searched." [Senator Chuck Schumer - Meet the Press 1/8/06] The first one points out either laziness or deliberate attempts to confuse the situation by the polling companies and media. Other media outlets have made the similar mistake by saying Alito could make abortion illegal. Of course the Supreme Court could not do that, all they could do is put the question back in the hands of the people, the legislative branch. The second point is just plain disgusting. Senator Schumer completely politicized and distorts an event that happened regarding an event that involved Alito. The case is Doe v. Groody in which Alito wrote a dissenting opinion. [Alito's dissent starts on page 12] Bob Novak wrote a piece on this in November, here are a few highlights.

They thought they hit pay dirt in Doe v. Groody, a 2004 case. But Alito's dissent on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals merely affirmed the right of Pennsylvania police to exceed the scope of a warrant to search all the occupants of a home to prevent "the removal, concealment or destruction" of drugs. While avowing "a visceral dislike" for searching the young, he called it "a sad fact that drug dealers sometimes use children to carry out their business and to avoid prosecution."

and...

While revealing the true nature of Doe v. Groody, the memo says that "the liberals contend that children cannot be searched under the Constitution. This would amount to a 'get out of jail free' card for drug dealers who use young children to stash drugs." The Law Enforcement Alliance of America last week declared that "these shameless attacks on law enforcement officers and Judge Alito would have young children used as drug mules."

It will be interesting to see how this issue is discussed in the hearings as Novak points out here.

Red state Democratic senators have to consider consequences of collaboration by their leaders with architects of the assault on Alito. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid met privately Thursday with Wade Henderson of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a sponsor of the strip-search ad, to plot strategy against Alito that may not be popular with all members of Reid's caucus.