Thursday, November 17, 2016

Alito outlines possible conservative agenda for U.S. high court

Reuters reports:
Justice Samuel Alito on Thursday laid out a possible agenda for the U.S. Supreme Court if it regains its conservative majority as expected after Donald Trump takes office, citing gun rights and religious freedom as among key issues it will tackle in the coming years.

Alito, one of the court's two most conservative justices along with Clarence Thomas, pointed to freedom of speech and a disruption of the U.S. Constitution's separation of powers caused by federal agencies expanding their authority at the expense of the U.S. Congress as other "constitutional fault lines" that could come before the court.

Speaking at a meeting of the Federalist Society, a group of conservative lawyers, Alito paid tribute to Antonin Scalia, the conservative justice who died in February. Senate Republicans, in an action with little precedent in U.S. history, refused to act on Democratic President Barack Obama's nominee to replace Scalia, Merrick Garland, in the hope that a Republican would win the Nov. 8 presidential election and make the appointment.

Trump, a Republican who takes office on Jan. 20, is set to make the pick, which would restore a fifth conservative vote on the nine-seat court that currently is evenly split with four liberals and four conservatives.
Justice Alito talks about the constitution.