Judge Lewis, Winkelman Quoted Extensively in Media about Judge Alito

Schnader counsel and former federal appeals judge Timothy K. Lewis and Schnader partner Nancy Winkelman have both been quoted extensively in recent days about their experiences with and knowledge of Supreme Court Justice nominee Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. (Judge Lewis formerly served on the Philadelphia-based Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals with Judge Alito. Nancy Winkelman is a prominent Philadelphia appellate lawyer.)

On Oct. 31 Judge Lewis was quoted in the New York Times article “Court Nominee Is a Strong Conservative on a Liberal Bench” (also published on CNN.com.) The article notes many of Samuel A. Alito’s achievements as a conservative jurist on the Philadelphia-based Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a court with a reputation for being among the nation’s most liberal. Judge Lewis stated that he believes Judge Alito would be a good Supreme Court justice. “There is nobody that I believe would give my case a more fair and balanced treatments,” Judge Lewis said. “He has no agenda. He’s open-minded, he’s fair and he’s balanced.” That day, Judge Lewis was interviewed by National Public Radio’s Neal Conan and discussed the nomination. On Nov. 1, The Legal Intelligencer article “Conservative, but No ‘Scalito'” quoted Judge Lewis. The article discusses that lawyers who know Samuel A. Alito say that the nickname “Scalito” has unfairly branded Alito as a carbon copy of Justice Antonin Scalia and a “knee-jerk conservative” whose vote is predictable. “To call him ‘Scalito’ is to completely misunderstand him,” said Judge Lewis. “Perhaps the best word to describe him is principled.” On Nov. 2 Judge Lewis was quoted in the Los Angeles Times article “Nominee Has Some Unexpected Supporters-Liberals who have worked with Samuel A. Alito Jr. say he is fair, not a rigid ideologue.” The article illuminates the number of liberal-leaning judges and ex-clerks that support Judge Alito’s nomination to the Supreme Court. According to Judge Lewis, “Alito does not have an agenda, contrary to what the Republican right is saying about him being a ‘home run.’ He is not result-oriented. He is an honest conservative judge who believes in judicial restraint and judicial deference.” And, on Nov. 3 the Associated Press Wire Service ran a story that was picked up by many national publications including the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Miami Herald, and the San Jose Mercury News. In the article, Judge Lewis stated that, in his opinion, Judge Alito would be unlikely to vote to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.

On Nov. 1 The Legal Intelligencer quoted Nancy Winkelman in the article “No Easy Path to Confirmation Seen for Alito.” The article states that many in the Philadelphia legal community are cautious in estimating how “confirmable” Alito may be. “He is principled more than ideological,” Nancy said. “He’ll review the case before him on its merits, not just a results-driven outcome.” This article also ran in the New York Law Journal that week. That day, Winkelman was quoted by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in the article “Strong conservative could spark fight.” Winkelman comments that those who know  Judge Alito “as a friend or as a jurist say he has a brilliant legal mind and is a conservative with impeccable personal and professional credentials who would undoubtedly push the court to the right. But he is not, they say, an ideologue with an agenda. When I think of a conservative ideologue, I think of someone who always would be result-driven, and whatever the conservative result would be, they’d find a way to get there. Judge Alito is not like that.”