By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – UB Law Professor Lee Albert once taught Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito at the Yale Law School. Albert describes him as a man of principle who is not an ideologue.
Lee Albert says he was recently in touch with Alito. Albert was trying to place a student as one of one of the judge's law clerks. While that didn't work out, Albert said they used the occasion to catch up. They had first met in the early 1970s, when Albert was a young professor at the Yale School of Law, and Alito was one of his students.
"You get to know maybe a dozen students really well in a long teaching career like mine. He just happened to be one," Albert said. "Why? His manner, his seriousness and his modesty. He had a real interest in what he was studying and the law."
Albert said if there's something called a "judicial temperament," Alito has it. Conservatives are hailing Alito's nomination. But Albert said he doesn't believe that means he'll do their bidding.
"He's conservative in the sense that he believes more in the sparing use of judicial power than other judges and justices," Albert said. "You might say he would give the President, Congress and state legislatures more leeway to do things. In that sense, he's more conservative. But I don't think he's an ideologue."
Albert says the sharp criticism of Alito is to be expected in the current climate. He says Alito would easily be confirmed in another era. But Albert says today's Supreme Court has been politicized with the focus on a few hot-button issues. Albert says that's a change that's not necessarily for the better.