Alito

I was driving home and was able to catch some of the confirmation hearings for Alito. It was fortunate, too, because it had to do with religious freedom. One of the questions Alito was asked was, "Is freedom of religion also freedom to not believe?" and he responded with something like "Absolutely", which is very reassuring to me. He also said that he believes it's wrong to impose his own moral and religious views on others, although of course, he can't not, absolutely.

There was a case he gave a dissenting opinion for where a public school's students voted for a prayer prior to some event like graduation or a football game (i think it was graduation). His dissent was that the government may not give religious speech, but it also cannot impede religious speech. He treated the voting majority of the school (which of course voted for prayer) as individuals whose speech would be impeded if prohibited by the government. His reasoning was sound, although I disagree with it.

He also said, of the establishment clause, something along the lines of "It would be nice if decisions based on the clause did not turn on so fine a point."

All in all, I think he sounds like a good candidate and well-learned person, even if I don't agree with him.