Alito Not a Judicial Cartoon

The Wikipedia profile of newly-sworn Associate Justice Sam Alito contains two bits of interesting information:

At Princeton, Alito led a student conference in 1971 called "The Boundaries of Privacy in American Society" which, among other things, supported curbs on domestic intelligence gathering, called for the legalization of sodomy, and urged for an end to discrimination against homosexuals in hiring by employers (see [1]). During the conference, Alito stated that "no private sexual act between consenting adults should be forbidden."

Alito was a member of the Concerned Alumni of Princeton, which formed in October 1972 against Princeton's decisions regarding affirmative action. Apart from Alito's written 1985 statement of membership of CAP on a job application, which Alito says was truthful, there is no other evidence of Alito's involvement with or contributions in the group. Alito has cited the banning and subsequent mistreatment of ROTC by the university for belonging to CAP.

It would seem that Alito's judicial philosophy, even as a young person, was more complicated and nuanced than either his advocates or adversaries have shown. (Thanks to Dave Friedman for linking to this piece.)