National Council of Jewish Women Opposes the Alito Nomination Print E-mail
Written by Megan Brown   

Group Takes Stand on Basis of Jewish Values
Third Circuit Court Judge Samuel Alito’s nomination to the Supreme Court bench stirred controversy throughout America and within Congress. And yet, with advocacy groups and private individuals across the country rushing to take sides on the nomination, most organizations within the Jewish community remained surprisingly mum.

With most Jewish organizations holding back from declaring a side in the Alito debate, one group, the National Council for Jewish Women, loudly opposed the nomination.

“As Jews, we value and depend on religious freedom,” said Phyllis Snyder, president of the NCJW. “It allows us to thrive as a minority religion in this country. Roe v. Wade makes sure that no one religion can impose its religious beliefs on all of us.”

Snyder said she fears that if Alito is appointed to the Supreme Court bench, the landmark 1973 decision legalizing abortion will be overturned. The NCJW is the only Jewish organization to publicly oppose Alito’s nomination to the bench, Snyder said.

“NCJW is a pro-choice organization,” Snyder said. “We believe women have the right to make this very private, very personal choice on their own.”

“Supreme Court justices need to be guardians of our religious freedom and civil rights,” Snyder said. “As Jews, we know what it means to have our rights and liberties stripped away.”

Alito, President Bush’s nominee to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, serves on the Third District Court of Appeals. With a record that includes asserting the rights of husbands in the reproductive choice-making process and a 1985 job application in which he wrote that “the Constitution does not project the right to an abortion,” the NCJW’s concerns are shared by many within the pro-choice community.

In 2001, the NCJW launched the Benchmark Campaign as resource for tracking judicial decisions and taking stands on judicial nominees.

Because most cases are not heard by the Supreme Court and end at the Circuit or Appellate level, the NCJW and its Benchmark Campaign comment on nominees to those courts, as well.

When Chief Justice John Roberts’ name came up as a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals nominee in 2003, NCJW opposed his appointment.

“He had a very minimal record, but it did indicate he would be conservative,” Snyder said. “We feel we [NCJW] have a progressive voice in the Jewish community.”

NCJW dissented from the choice of Roberts again when Bush nominated him to the Supreme Court bench.

While Meretz USA, a non-profit progressive Zionist movement, has not taken a stand on Alito, Charney V. Bromberg, Meretz’ executive director, said he believes that American Jews are uncomfortable with the nomination

“By in large the Jewish community is very apprehensive,” Bromberg said. The release of documents has begun to display “evidence of not only a conservative perspective but a retrograde perspective,” he said.
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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.
 
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