Judge SAMUEL ALITO: My obligation as a judge is to interpret and apply the Constitution and the laws of the United States, and not my personal religious beliefs or any special moral beliefs that I have.ABERNETHY: Analysis now of Judge Alito's testimony and his prospects for confirmation from Tim O'Brien, legal analyst for Fox News and a visiting professor of law at Nova Southeastern University. He joins us from Davie, Florida.
Tim, welcome. How did Judge Alito come down on the issues most important to the religious communities?
TIM O'BRIEN (Contributing Correspondent): He seems to follow the Supreme Court's lead scrupulously. A lot of people think he might be more sensitive to religious interests than Justice O'Connor. He has ruled that cities may have Nativity scenes at Christmastime in some contexts; that children can't be discriminated against in school if they want to express religious points of view; that Muslim police officers are entitled to wear beards, if that's part of their religious practice. Pretty much consistent with the Supreme Court -- and that's all we can say.
ABERNETHY: And how about abortion?
Mr. O'BRIEN: On abortion, Democrats tried to pin him down and have him say that Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land. Of course, so many questions about it indicated that it's not the settled law of the land. He went about as far as he could go, saying that precedent does count when it's been reaffirmed many times by the Supreme Court -- it's even stronger that there is a right to privacy in the Constitution.
Mr. O'BRIEN: I think it could make a significant difference in a number of areas, especially given that he would be replacing the swing Justice Sandra O'Connor. On abortion, Roe v. Wade is not about to be overruled, but his vote could strengthen the authority of the states to regulate abortion. And also, he seems to favor greater deference to the White House -- more presidential power, especially in the areas of national defense and foreign affairs.
