http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/ne ... 704196.htm

Posted on Wed, Jan. 25, 2006


MIAMI
Groups call Alito wrong choice
About a dozen protesters rallied Tuesday against the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the nation's high court, saying he is bad for immigration.
By THERESA BRADLEY
tbradley@MiamiHerald.com

Waving red stop signs and chanting ''Callete, Alito!,'' (''Shut up, Alito!'') local advocacy and labor groups rallied downtown Tuesday, urging senators to oppose the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court in a vote that is likely to take place later this week.

''The way the court is divided today, he's wrong for the country, wrong for Florida, and dead wrong for South Florida,'' said Joe Garcia, spokesman for the progressive advocacy group People for the American Way, which organized Tuesday's event in front of the Dade County Courthouse.

''He's not right for a community that's based on immigrants, a community that's based on minorities'' and values diversity, Garcia said.

AREAS OF CONCERN

The dozen-plus demonstrators downtown -- from People for the American Way and the Service Employees International Union -- pointed to four main areas of concern: immigration rights, civil rights, gun control and workplace discrimination.

''This is not just a matter of academic ideology,'' said Reginald Mitchell, legal counsel for People for the American Way. Alito is a ''conservative judicial activist,'' amped to ''reconstrue and turn standards set by the legislature on their head,'' he said.

Handfuls of immigrant rights groups have opposed Alito since his nomination last October, objecting to specific rulings and work he has done on jury selection, affirmative action and immigration cases.

SON OF IMMIGRANT

Alito himself is the son of an Italian immigrant; he grew up in the same conservative, New Jersey archdiocese as Justice Antonin Scalia -- inspiring opponents to stick him with the nickname ``Scalito.''

For the past 15 years, he has presided over the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia -- leaving a long legal record, scrutinized in recent weeks by senators and local activists alike.

Not all passersby agreed with the protesters.

''He said he wouldn't prejudge, and would take each case on its merits,'' Paul Spencer, 66, said of Alito, whom he watched on television every day during confirmation hearings, at home in Miami Beach with his wife. ``If I'm ever in any kind of trouble with the law, I hope it will be with a judge who has that concern for having an open mind.''