The Senate Judiciary Committee will begin it’s hearings today at 11 a.m. CST. You can hear the whole thing at TPR.org.
Here is the current schedule of the hearing and bios for the witnesses (Beware... it's long):
Monday, January 9
Noon Chairman Specter opens hearing
12:15 pm Chairman Specter begins 10 minute opening statements for Committee members
3:15 pm Break
3:45 pm Presenters introduce Alito
- U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg
- Christine Todd Whitman, Former Governor of New Jersey, and Former EPA Administrator
4:00 pm Swearing-in and testimony of Judge Samuel A. Alito
Tuesday, January 10
9:30 am Chairman Specter begins 30 minute round of questioning (Round 1)
10:45 am AM Break
12:30 pm Break for lunch
1:30 pm Resume questioning
3:45 pm PM Break
6:00 pm Break for dinner
7:00 pm Resume questioning
Wednesday, January 11
9:30 am Chairman Specter begins 20 minute rounds of questioning (Round 2)
10:45 am AM Break
12:30 pm Break for lunch
1:30 pm Resume questioning as necessary
3:45 pm PM Break
6:00 pm Break for dinner
7:00 pm Resume questioning
*At the conclusion of questioning, the Committee is expected to go into closed session.
Thursday, January 12
9:30 am Resume questioning or outside witness testimony
12:30 pm Break for lunch
1:30 pm Resume questioning or outside witness testimony
6:00 pm Break for Dinner
7:00 pm Resume questioning or outside witness testimony
*If additional time for questioning or testimony is needed, changes will be made to the schedule.
Tentative Majority Witness List and Bios:
Panel 1 – American Bar Association
Stephen Tober – Chairman, ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary
Mr. Tober is the Chairman of the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. An attorney for the law firm bearing his name, he is an experienced attorney in civil litigation, professional negligence and domestic relations. Mr. Tober has both his undergraduate and law degrees from Syracuse University, where he served on the Law Review. Deeply involved in New Hampshire and New England legal communities, Mr. Tober is the former Chairman of the Committee to Redraft New Hampshire’s Rules of Professional Conduct. Mr. Tober will explain the methodologies used by the American Bar Association in reaching its conclusion that Judge Alito merited a Unanimously Well Qualified rating, the highest possible recommendation given by the ABA. Some of the factors considered by the ABA in determining its rating are intellectual capacity, judgment, writing and analytical ability, knowledge of the law, breadth of professional experience, courtroom experience, character, integrity, freedom from bias, commitment to equal justice under the law, and general reputation in the legal community.
Marna Tucker – ABA DC Circuit Representative
Ms. Tucker is the D.C. Circuit Representative of the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. She has distinguished herself as the first woman president of both the District of Columbia Bar Association and the National Conference of Bar Presidents. She is currently a partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Feldesman, Tucker, Leifer, Fidell & Bank, and has practiced law in the domestic relations field for over thirty years. In the course of her career, she has been recognized nationwide as an expert in complex divorces, domestic violence and prenuptial matters. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas and her law degree from the Georgetown Law Center.
John Payton – ABA Federal Circuit Representative
Mr. Payton is the Federal Circuit Representative of the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. He is the former Corporation Counsel of the District of Columbia and DC Bar President and has been recognized as one of the premier litigators in his practice ranging from complex commercial matters to the most challenging of civil rights matters. Most recently, he was the lead counsel for the University of Michigan in defending the university’s admissions process by arguing Gratz v. Bollinger before the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Payton is on the Board of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and on the Board of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Mr. Payton has taught as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School and at the Georgetown Law Center.
Note: Only one witness will give an opening statement.
Panel 2 – Judges
Edward R. Becker – U.S. Court of Appeals Judge (Senior)
Judge Becker received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1954 and his J.D. from Yale University in 1957. Following law school, Judge Becker practiced law in Philadelphia, PA, from 1957-1970. In 1970, President Nixon nominated Judge Becker to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and in 1981 President Reagan nominated him to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Judge Becker served as Chief Judge from 1998-2003 and he assumed senior status in 2003. Judge Becker is no stranger to the Senate, having served as a mediator for stakeholders of the asbestos legislation. Judge Becker has served with Judge Alito for his entire fifteen year tenure on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Anthony J. Scirica – Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Judge Scirica received his B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1962 and his J.D. from University of Michigan School of Law in 1965. He practiced law in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania from 1966 to 1980, when he was elected to the Court of Common Pleas of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In the interval, he served as an Assistant District Attorney and also as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he chaired the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime. He is also a former Chair of the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing. In 1984, President Reagan appointed Judge Scirica to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In 1987, President Reagan nominated him to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, where he has been Chief Judge since 2003. Judge Scirica was a member of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1992 to 1998. He chaired the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1998 to 2003. Judge Scirica has been a member of the ALI since 1994, and he is currently an Adviser to the Principles of the Law of Aggregate Litigation Project and a member of the Special Committee on Federal Judicial Code Revision. He also served as an Adviser to the recently completed project on Principles and Rules of Transnational Civil Procedure. Judge Scirica has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and has taught at Duke University Law School and Dickinson-Penn State Law School. Judge Scirica and Judge Alito have served together on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for the past fifteen years.
Maryanne Trump Berry – U.S. Court of Appeals Judge
Judge Barry received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke in 1958, her M.A. from Columbia University in 1962, and her J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law in 1974. Judge Berry served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey from 1974-1983. While at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, she served in numerous high level positions, including as Deputy Chief of the Appeals Division and Chief of the Appeals Division. She also was Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney and First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the office. In 1983, President Reagan nominated Judge Barry to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and in 1999 President Clinton nominated her to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Judge Barry has chaired the Criminal Law Committee for the Judicial Conference. Judge Barry and Judge Alito have been colleagues for six years while both have served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Ruggero J. Aldisert – U.S. Court of Appeals Judge (Senior)
Judge Aldisert received his B.A. from University of Pittsburgh in 1942 and his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1947. Following college, Judge Aldisert served in the Marine Corps from 1942-1946. He practiced law in Pittsburgh, PA from 1947-1961 and served as Judge on the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, PA from 1961-1968. In 1968, President Johnson nominated Judge Aldisert to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He served as Chief Judge from 1984-1986 and assumed senior status in 1986. Judge Aldisert has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pittsburgh Law School. He has authored several books on the law, including Winning on Appeal: Better Briefs and Oral Argument and he is considered an expert on appellate practice. Judge Aldisert and Judge Alito have served together on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for the past fifteen years.
Leonard I. Garth – U.S. Court of Appeals Judge (Senior) – via video
Judge Garth received his B.A. from Columbia University in 1942. He served during World War II as a United States Army Lieutenant from 1943 to 1946. Upon his return, he earned his LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1952. In 1969, after practicing law in Paterson, New Jersey for over fifteen years, Judge Garth was nominated to the United States District Court, District of New Jersey by President Nixon . He was later nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit by President Nixon in 1973. He assumed senior status in 1986. Judge Garth has been a lecturer at Rutgers Law School since 1978 and at Seton Hall Law School since 1980. Judge Alito clerked for Judge Garth from 1976-1977, and has served as a colleague to Judge Alito for his entire fifteen year tenure on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
John J. Gibbons – U.S. Court of Appeals Judge (Retired)
Judge Gibbons received a B.A. from Holy Cross College in 1947 and a L.L.B. from Harvard University in 1950. Judge Gibbons practiced law in Newark from 1950-1970. In 1970, President Nixon nominated Judge Gibbons to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He served as Chief Judge from 1987-1990. Judge Gibbons resigned in 1990 to become a Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law. While at Seton Hall, he held the Richard J. Hughes Chair in Constitutional Law until 1997. In 1997, Judge Gibbons entered private practice and he is a partner at Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger, and Vecchione. Mr. Gibbons is a past President of the New Jersey State Bar Association, a member of the American Law Institute, and a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He is a former member of the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association and a former Chair of its Committee on Fair Trial and Free Press. Additionally, he is a Director of the American Arbitration Association, a Trustee Emeritus of the Practicing Law Institute, and a Trustee Emeritus of Holy Cross College. Judge Gibbons has known Judge Alito for more than 20 years when Judge Alito was U.S. Attorney and tried cases before Judge Gibbons.
Timothy K. Lewis – U.S. Court of Appeals Judge (Retired)
Judge Lewis received his B.A. from Tufts University in 1976 and his J.D. from Duquesne University in 1980. Following law school, Judge Lewis served as Assistant District Attorney, Allegheny County, PA, from 1980-1983. From 1983-1991, Judge Lewis served as Assistant U.S. attorney, Western District of Pennsylvania. In 1991, President Bush nominated Judge Lewis to the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and in 1992 President Bush nominated him to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. At the time of both appointments he was the youngest federal judge in the United States. Judge Lewis resigned in 1999 from the federal bench and he is currently co-chair of the Appellate Practice Group at Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP. Judge Lewis is a co-chair of the National Committee on the Right to Counsel (with former Vice President Walter Mondale as honorary co-chair), a bipartisan committee established by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association and the Constitution Project to review the indigent defense system throughout the nation and create recommendations for reforms. Judge Lewis and Judge Alito served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for seven years.
Panel 3 – Academics and witnesses acquainted with Judge Alito
Charles Fried – Beneficial Professor of Law, Harvard Law School and former U.S. Solicitor General, 1985-89.
Professor Fried is a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. He is an expert in the areas of constitutional law and legal and moral philosophy. From 1985-1989 he served as the United States Solicitor General, arguing on behalf of the United States before the Supreme Court. >From 1995 through 1999, he sat on the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts as an Associate Justice. Professor Fried holds an undergraduate degree from Princeton University, a juris doctor from Columbia Law School, and both a BA and MA from Oxford University. He is widely recognized as one of the premier constitutional scholars and appellate advocates of our time. Professor Fried was Judge Alito’s boss in the Solicitor General’s office.
Anthony Kronman – Sterling Professor of Law, Yale Law School, and former Dean of Yale Law School.
Professor Kronman is the Sterling Professor of Law at the Yale Law School, and served as Dean of the Law School from 1994 to 2004. He has taught at Yale for the past 16 years. Before joining the Yale faculty, Professor Kronman taught at the University of Chicago Law School and at the University of Minnesota Law School. He graduated from Williams College in 1968 with highest honors in political science, received his Ph. D. in philosophy at Yale where he was a Danforth Fellow. He received his J.D. from the Yale Law School in 1975. Professor Kronman was a classmate of Judge Alito’s at Yale.
Nora Demleitner – Professor of Law at Hofstra University School of Law. Also a former clerk to Judge Alito.
Professor Demleitner, from the Hofstra University School of Law, teaches and has written widely in the areas of criminal, comparative and immigration law. She is a managing editor of the Federal Sentencing Reporter, and serves on the executive editorial board of the American Journal of Comparative Law. Professor Demleitner graduated from Bates College summa cum laude, and graduated from the Yale Law School in 1992, where she was symposium editor of the Yale Law Journal and managing editor of the Yale Journal of International Law. She also holds an L.L.M. from Georgetown University Law Center. Professor Demleitner clerked for Judge Alito after graduating form law school.
Panel 4 – Democrat witnesses (Academics)
Panel 5 – Witnesses acquainted with Judge Alito’s legal work
Peter Kirsanow – a Commissioner to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and Partner at Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan and Aronoff LLP in Cleveland.
Mr. Kirsanow is a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and a partner with the law firm Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan, and Aronoff LLP in the Labor and Employment Practice Group. He frequently testifies before and advises members of the U.S. Congress on various employment laws and issues, and has formerly served as labor counsel for the city of Cleveland. Mr. Kirsanow is also the chair of the board of directors of the Center for New Black Leadership and is on the advisory board of the National Center for Public Policy Research. He received his B.A. in 1976 from Cornell University and his J.D. with honors in 1979 from Cleveland State University, where he served as articles editor of the Cleveland State Law Review. Mr. Kirsanow has thoroughly reviewed Judge Alito’s civil rights record and will testify to his conclusions as an expert in the area of civil rights.
Cathy Fleming – a Partner at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP, who served as a division chief when Alito was New Jersey U.S. Attorney. She is the president-elect of the National Association of Women Lawyers.
Ms. Fleming is the President-Elect of The National Association of Women Lawyers, the nation’s oldest women’s bar association devoted to the interests of women lawyers and their families, and is a partner at the law firm of Edwards & Angell in New York. She specializes in complex civil and white collar criminal litigation. She has been in private practice for more than 25 years. She has known Judge Alito for nearly 20 years, having worked with him when he was the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey and she was the Deputy Chief and Acting Chief of the Special Prosecutions Unit. Ms. Fleming is a life-long Democrat, outspoken women’s rights advocate, and liberal-minded criminal defense attorney.
Carter Phillips – the Managing Partner of Sidley Austin LLP and a litigator who has argued 45 cases before the Supreme Court. Also a former associate of Judge Alito’s in the Solicitor General’s office.
Mr. Phillips is one of the nation’s premier appellate litigators, and currently the Managing Partner of the Washington D.C. office of Sidley Austin Brown and Wood. He served as Assistant to former Solicitor General Rex Lee for three years, during which time he argued nine cases on behalf of the federal government in the United States Supreme Court. Since re-entering private practice in 1984, Mr. Phillips has argued 38 cases before the Supreme Court, for a career total of 47 appearances. That experience, as well as numerous cases in the courts of appeals, is one of the reasons Mr. Phillips was selected as one of the 100 Best Lawyers in America by The National Law Journal, and generally considered one of best appellate advocates in the country. He graduated with honors from Northwestern University School of Law and served as a law clerk to both Judge Robert Sprecher on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and Chief Justice Warren E. Burger on the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Phillips has known Judge Alito for more than 20 years, having served with Judge Alito in the Office of the Solicitor General.
Panel 6 – Former Alito clerks
Kate Pringle – a Partner at Friedman, Kaplan, Seiler and Adelman LLP in New York and an Alito clerk 1993-94. She served as co-counsel for the Kerry for President campaign.
Ms. Pringle is a partner in the litigation department of Friedman Kaplan Seiler and Adelman. She graduated with honors from American University in 1990 and cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 1993. She served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Georgetown Law Journal. She is a life-long Democrat and has been active in Democratic campaigns, including the last two presidential campaigns. Ms. Pringle was one of Judge Alito’s clerks for the 1993 – 1994 term.
Jack White – an Associate at Kirkland and Ellis LLP in San Francisco and an Alito clerk from 2003-04. A member of the NAACP and ACLU, he is a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Jack White is an associate in the San Francisco office of Kirkland and Ellis. He graduated magna cum laude from Pepperdine Law School, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Pepperdine Law Journal, and received his B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Mr. White served on active duty as an officer in the United States Army and continues to serve as a Captain in the United States Army Reserve. He is a dedicated member of the ACLU and the NAACP. Mr. White was one of Judge Alito’s clerks for the 2003 – 2004 term.
