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| - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mark Nevins, 267-847-7189: Reed Millar, 484-769-3564 January 24, 2006 Pittsburgh, PA - Today the Pittsburgh City Council unanimously passed a resolution opposing the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito to the United States Supreme Court. The resolution also encouraged Pennsylvania’s Senators Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter to vote against Alito when his nomination comes up for a vote. The resolution, sponsored by Council Members Douglas Shields and Tonya Payne, praised retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor for her record as a moderate and for casting votes to protect the basic freedoms of all Americans. In contrast, Judge Alito background indicates that he will “move civil rights backwards, roll back privacy protections, make life easier for polluters, and give a free pass to people who discriminate,” according to the resolution. The text of the Pittsburgh City Council resolution follows this release. “Locally elected officials are the last line of defense when statewide officer holders and other elected officials lack the courage to stand up for the basic rights of citizens,” said Councilman Shields. “As City Council members, we have a duty to represent our constituents who cherish the right to organize, value the protection of civil liberties, and respect the environment. Judge Alito is clearly a threat to these basic tenets of our democracy.” Councilwoman Payne added, “I, along with the other members of Pittsburgh’s City Council, felt it was extremely important to assert our opinion as a group against the appointment of Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. More specifically, we decided that from a political perspective, it was critical that we, as the legislative body representing the City of Pittsburgh, encourage Senators Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum to vote against this nomination, as such an appointment would most certainly negatively impact judicial outcomes pertaining to women, minorities, the environment, and individual privacy concerns.” In addition to the Pittsburgh City Council resolution, the Borough of Wilkinsburg, PA passed a resolution last week opposing the nomination of Judge Alito. “Judge Alito is not the common sense, mainstream choice America deserves,” the Wilkinsburg council declared in its resolution.
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