2006年VOA标准英语-US Supreme Court Nominee Faces Questions o

（单词翻译）

By Deborah Tate
Washington
10 January 2006

Samuel Alito  
  
Supreme¹ Court nominee² Samuel Alito is facing tough questions about presidential powers and abortion³ rights during Senate confirmation⁴ hearings.

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A key issue in the hearings are statements Judge Samuel Alito made while working as a lawyer in the Reagan administration in support of executive power. Some critics argue Alito embraced greater powers for the president at the expense of civil liberties.

Alito responded that the president has to follow the Constitution and the nation's laws.

"No person in this country is above the law, and that includes the president," he said.

But Alito refrained from discussing particular cases, saying he did not want to prejudge matters that may come before the high court.

The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who is a supporter of abortion rights, asked Alito about statements he made as a lawyer in the Reagan administration opposing abortion.

Alito said the Constitution protects the right to privacy, a key underpinning⁵ of the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion.

He also expressed support for the legal principle, known as starre decisis, that prior court decisions should be used as guiding principle.

"I agree that in every case in which there is prior precedent⁶, the first issue is the issue of starre decisis," noted⁷ Mr. Alito. "The presumption⁸ is that the court will follow its prior precedence. There needs to be a special justification⁹ for overruling a prior precedent."

The committee has scheduled two days of questioning. The nominee is expected to be confirmed by the Republican-led Senate by the end of the month.

He would succeed the retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has often cast the deciding vote in 5-4 rulings on controversial cases. Many Democrats¹⁰ are concerned that Alito could tilt¹¹ the ideological¹² balance of the court to the right.