A former 3rd Circuit judge who served with Alito, says:
Timothy K. Lewis, a former Third Circuit judge and ardent death-penalty opponent, said that although he had never discussed capital punishment with Alito, he believes that Alito's "natural inclination toward judicial restraint" means that he would only reluctantly interfere with a death sentence.
"What that means in a death-penalty context is perhaps a tendency to require that it be a very convincing case of ineffective assistance, or something the state had done wrong, before interfering with that process," said Lewis, who now practices law in Pittsburgh.
Another capital defender says:
Lawrence Lustberg, a New Jersey defense lawyer who handles capital appeals and is well-versed in the Third Circuit's approach to cases, said he believed that Alito's conservatism would make it unlikely for him to interfere much with death sentences.
"He is likely to decide with those who have been inclined to uphold death sentences, and who construe the death penalty very broadly," Lustberg said.
One Alito-authored opinion upholding the death penalty was reversed by the Supreme Court. As to cases in which he ruled in favor of murder defendants, the Inquirer reports:
He was on a three-judge panel that ordered a new penalty hearing in a York County case, and this year, he was part of a panel that upheld a ruling that a death sentence was unconstitutional. In two cases involving convicted murderers serving life sentences, he sent cases back for lower-court hearings so defendants could raise jury issues.
I would just add that Alito's background as a lawyer was only as a prosecutor and attorney for the Government. As I've said before, in those positions, one looks for the law that supports his side. I think Justices to the Supreme Court should view cases through the lens of the Constitution, not the Government.
I hope Senators question him closely on death penalty and wrongful conviction issues before determining he's the man for the job.