Alito Hires Former Republican Congressional Candidate As Clerk

I don't recall Justice Alito making a statement similar to Chief Justice Robert's "I am not an ideologue" during his confirmation hearings. Apparently there's a reason why.

Alito has just hired a number of new clerks, including a former Ashcroft aide in the Justice Department. But perhaps the most interesting is the hiring of Jay Jorgensen. (Here's a Federalist Society publication drafted by Jorgensen arguing that Ruth Bader Ginsburg's refusal to answer certain questions during her confirmation hearings means that current Bush Administration judicial nominees should be able to do the same).

Not only did Jorgensen, currently a partner at Sidley & Austin who previously clerked for Rehnquist (and Alito) years ago, actively work to oppose the nomination of Harriet Miers, but he ran (unsuccessfully) for the Republican nomination for Congress in Utah in 2002.

I'd be interested in knowing if the Court has EVER had a Congressional candidate as a clerk before (my understanding is that it has never happened), but that should tell you something about how political the newest justice truly is.

It's odd enough to hire older clerks, rather than ones almost directly out of law school. But to hire clerks like these tells me that Alito's opinion's will be far-right from the get go. Sure makes Alito's disavowals of his 1985 application look pretty transparently false, huh?

Looks like another Republican nominee (i.e. Clarence Thomas, Ted Olson, Miguel Estrada) has committed perjury before the Senate Judiciary Committee. I assume that's why Attorney General Gonzales wasn't put under oath when he testified about the NSA wiretapping.
- posted by Joshua @ 5:15 PM