Digital Bulletin

05:00 PM EST on Monday, January 30, 2006

By JACK PERRY
projo.com staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- U.S. Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee announced this morning that he will vote against the nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court.

Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski

U.S. Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee, at his office in Providence this morning, announces his stand on Alito, seen at left in photograph with Chafee.

Rhode Island's Chafee is the only member of the Republican Party so far to announce that he will vote against the conservative judge.

However, Chafee said he will not support a Democratic filibuster of fellow GOP President Bush's nomination. Alito is expected to win confirmation in a full Senate vote due tomorrow.

Chafee announced his position at a press conference in his Providence office, as he stood next to a photograph of himself and Alito, taken in Washington last November when the two met to discuss his nomination.

Chafee said today that he was "greatly concerned" about some of Alito's philosophies. In explaining his decision against the judge, the senator described himself as a "pro-choice, pro-environment, pro-Bill of Rights Republican."

He noted that while Alito had "outstanding legal credentials," his philosophy on certain issues, including the commerce clause, executive power and women's reproductive rights, influenced his decision.

Chafee said that Alito's position on the landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion seems different than the position taken by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., whom Chafee voted to confirm last year. He said Roberts was willing to call Roe vs. Wade "settled law" during his nomination hearing, but Alito "refused to make a similar statement."

The senator had said during his 2000 campaign that he would not vote for a nominee who did not pledge to affirm Roe v. Wade. "I'm very concerned about the slow eroding of women's reproductive freedom," Chafee said.

Chafee's stance had drawn attacks from his opponents in both parties, underlining the incumbent's dilemma on difficult Senate votes in this election year. Chafee faces a primary challenge from Cranston Mayor Stephen P. Laffey. Also vying for the seat are two Democrats: former Rhode Island Atty. Gen. Sheldon Whitehouse and Secretary of State Matthew Brown.

Chafee's fellow senator from Rhode Island, Democrat Jack Reed, announced last week he would vote against Alito.

Chafee today also expressed concern that Alito's apparent position on the Constitution's commerce clause, allowing Congress to regulate commerce among states, could weaken environmental laws such as the Clean Water Act.

And he questioned Alito's stance on executive power as it relates to warrantless wiretaps and the Fourth Amendment, which protects against "unreasonable searches and seizures."

Chafee said he did not make his final decision until Friday. He said he needed to take his time with a thorough analysis because it's a decision that the country will likely live with for many years since Alito is a young man.

In analyzing Alito's positions, Chafee said he was more concerned with the appeals court judge's decisions from the bench than what he wrote as a lawyer for "his client," the Reagan administration. Still, he acknowledged, "It's so hard to predict" how a nominee will vote on the court.

Chafee, a former Warwick mayor and son of a former GOP U.S. senator and Rhode Island governor, has gained a reputation in the Senate as a maverick willing to buck the party leadership. Still, he said he wanted to support the president's nominee.

"Believe me, having been an executive in government, I want to support President Bush's choice to the Supreme Court," Chafee said. "The president did win the election. He has made his promises and I have made mine."

Laffey issued a statement saying Chafee's decision was "disappointing, but not at all surprising."

“On key votes, Senator Chafee sides with the liberal special interests," Laffey said. "Rhode Island is not well served by Senator Chafee’s rejection of this independent, highly qualified man for the Supreme Court, or by Senator Chafee’s inability to make a firm decision, which once again made him irrelevant to the process in the Senate.”

The Rhode Island Sierra Club issued a statement supporting Chafee's decision, calling it a "politically tough decision to protect the environment."

Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian also praised Chafee, saying he's taking "a principled stand," according to a news release from Chafee's Senate committee.

-- With reports from Journal Washington bureau chief John E. Mulligan and the Associated Press