Alito's 1985 Memo Reignites Document Fight

A 1985 memo in which Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito suggested that the Justice Department try to chip away at abortion rights has reignited a battle over what documents should be available to senators as they evaluate judicial candidates.

"This information reinforces the need for the Senate to obtain all relevant information about this nominee, including his other solicitor general memos and his work in the Office of Legal Counsel," said Sen. Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record), D-Vt., who has been fighting with the White House for greater access to nominees' documents for years.

"We now see why this administration has resisted so strenuously to the release of these sorts of memos," said Leahy, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will hold hearings on Alito's nomination in January.

Republicans argue that Democrats are just looking for a way to block President Bush's conservative nominees from being approved by the GOP-controlled Senate.

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