Alito confirmed as court's fifth Catholic justice

Published: 2006-01-31

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Samuel Alito Jr. was confirmed to the Supreme Court Jan. 31, becoming the fifth Catholic on the nine-member court. Alito watched the 58-42 Senate vote from the White House, where he was to be sworn in at a private ceremony in time to appear at the Capitol for the State of the Union address by President George W. Bush that evening. A second, ceremonial swearing-in was scheduled for Feb. 1 at the White House. Alito, 55, was nominated in October to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. He had been a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia since 1990. Earlier, he was U.S. attorney for New Jersey and served on the staff at the Justice Department during the Reagan administration. A native of Trenton, N.J., Alito attended Princeton University as an undergraduate and received his law degree from Yale University in 1975.

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