01/09/2006

NPLAC Submits Five Questions to Senate Judiciary Committee for Alito Hearings

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today, the National Pro-Life Action Center (NPLAC)—the uncompromising voice of pro-life America on Capitol Hill—has formally resubmitted its Five Questions That Any Judicial Nominee Should be Asked to every member of the U.S. Senate and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"These questions were designed to allow a nominee to demonstrate their comprehension of our Constitutional system of law without raising concerns that the nominee will unduly prejudice themselves on cases they might adjudicate if confirmed to the bench," stated Stephen G. Peroutka, Esq., NPLAC chairman and a Maryland attorney. "We implore the members of the Judiciary Committee—especially those who have demonstrated an intolerance towards nominees believed to be pro-life—to rise above the normal partisan rancor and utilize these questions to help establish a nominee's grasp of our American system of law and justice."

"Justice Byron White put it best when he described the Roe and Doe decisions as an 'improvident and extravagant exercise of the power of judicial review,'" observed Paul Chaim Schenck, director of NPLAC. "Our country, our legal system and especially our Supreme Court only stands to benefit from confirming nominees with the courage and legal acumen White demonstrated in his dissents to these tragic decisions."

The five questions are:

1. Do basic human rights come only from government or are they rooted in something that transcends government?
2. Is man's inherent human nature fixed or does raw political power determine who is and is not a member of the human family?
3. Is law merely the construct of jurists and lawmakers or is it based on first principles of morals and justice?
4. Is the proper role of the judiciary to restrain/limit itself to interpreting law or does it possess de facto legislative powers?
5. Should the judiciary share power equally with the other two branches of government (the legislative and executive) or should its powers transcend them?