You Say Scalito, I Say Alito
While fights over issues such as abortion are likely to dominate the discussion over Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court, there's a surprising undercurrent that has begun flowing just under the surface – ethnicity. There's even an argument brewing over the Judge's alleged nickname, "Scalito."
News reports that use "Scalito" note, in various ways, that it's used to connect him philosophically to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the model justice for conservatives. But is the nickname also some sort of ethnic slur? To investigate, we tried to find to origin of the moniker by doing a quick database search of past news coverage.
The earliest mention of Scalito by the Associated Press appears to have been on September 21, 2002 in a roundup of potential high court nominees. "Well-known in conservative legal circles, he is sometimes called 'Scalito' for the similarities between his views and those of Scalia."
The New York Times first used the name on December 27, 2002 in a similar article: "Other possibilities, officials say, include Judge Alito, who was a clerk for Justice Scalia and is nicknamed Scalito by some lawyers but who is seen as a far less confrontational figure."
The Washington Post didn't use it until July 3 of this year: "Some activists also point to Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. of the 3rd Circuit, nicknamed by some 'Scalito' for demonstrating the same sharp intellect and conservative views of Justice Antonin Scalia."
The Los Angeles Times did not mention the name until today: "He also has enough similarities to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia -- Italian American roots, pronounced conservative views -- that he has been dubbed 'Scalito.'"
CBS News used it for the first time yesterday. White House Correspondent John Roberts explained, "Alito's judicial philosophy so mirrors that of the Supreme Court's hard-liner, Antonin Scalia, that he's been nicknamed 'Scalito.'"
The Weekly Standard's Continetti similarly searched and discovered an earlier entry:
"Where did the nickname 'Scalito' come from? It is hard to say. I searched the Lexis-Nexis database and found the first reference to 'Scalito' in the December 7, 1992 National Law Journal. 'Judge Alito is described by lawyers as exceptionally bright,' reported Joseph A. Slobodzian, 'but much more of an ideologue than most of his colleagues. It's a trait that as led some to nickname him 'Scalito' after the acerbic Supreme Court Justice.'"No real answers there, but today's Washington Post hints that this may be as much a media creation as anything else. In their story about Alito's judicial philosophy, reporters Michael Grunwald, Jo Becker and Dale Russakoff write:
"The real Sam Alito, according to the lawyers and other friends who know him well, is more like the second coming of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., but with a longer paper trail. They describe Alito as a studious, diligent, scholarly judge with a first-rate mind and a deadpan sense of humor, a neutral arbiter who does not let personal beliefs affect his legal judgments.If anyone knows where "Scalito" originated, give us a tip. Until then, we'll chalk this one up as a case where the name is just too good for the press not to use.They say he inherited a commitment to unbiased professionalism from his father, who served as the New Jersey legislature's nonpartisan research director for a quarter century. They don't know anyone who isn't a journalist who actually calls him "Scalito."
UPDATE: In a post on The Buck Stops Here, Shannon P. Duffy writes, "I'm the one who nick-named Alito 'Scalito.'"