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Alito Snubs Congressional Blacks

As Democrats and Republicans spar over a potential filibuster by Democrats to block Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court, members of the Congressional Black Caucus say Alito snubbed their recent request for a meeting.

"We never heard back from anyone in Alito's office," Myra Dandridge, a spokeswoman for the Congressional Black Caucus, told BlackAmericaWeb.com Monday.

Dandridge said the caucus, which has been critical of Alito's judicial opinions involving race, asked for a meeting with Alito last month but never got a response.
"We just assumed the answer was no," Dandridge said.

Last week, the Congressional Black Caucus announced its collective opposition to Alito, saying Alito's conservative views could place longstanding civil rights legislation in jeopardy.
"The members of the CBC are concerned about Judge Alito's opinions, many in dissent, in race cases where his decisions have disproportionately affected African-Americans," Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.), chairman of the caucus, said last week.

"We are troubled by what appears to be a very conservative judicial philosophy that seems greatly at odds with much of 20th century constitutional jurisprudence," he said.

The Caucus is particularly concerned that Judge Alito has been nominated to fill the seat of a moderate justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, who was the deciding vote in decisions of great importance to blacks, including civil rights, reproductive health, religious liberty and environmental protection.