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Samuel Alito

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Samuel Alito
Image of Samuel Alito

Nonpartisan

Supreme Court of the United States
Tenure

2006 - Present

Years in position

19

Predecessor
Prior offices
United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit
Successor: Joseph Greenaway
Predecessor: John Gibbons

Education

Bachelor's

Princeton University, 1972

Law

Yale Law School, 1975

Personal
Birthplace
Trenton, N.J.

Samuel A. Alito, Jr. is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States by President George W. Bush (R) on October 31, 2005, to fill the vacancy created by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's assumption of senior status. The U.S. Senate confirmed Alito to the Court on January 31, 2006, in a 58-42 vote, and he was sworn in hours later.[1][2]

Alito began his legal career in 1976 clerking for Judge Leonard Garth on the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. Alito served in a variety of roles as a lawyer for the federal government between 1977 and 1990, including as an assistant to the U.S. solicitor general during which time he argued 12 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. President Ronald Reagan (R) appointed him U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey in 1987. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush (R) nominated Alito to the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, where he remained until his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court in October 2005.[3][4][5]

In an interview with The American Spectator's Matthew Walther, Alito described his judicial philosophy: "Take the Fourth Amendment. We have to decide whether something is a reasonable search or seizure. That’s really all the text of the Constitution tells us. We can look at what was understood to be reasonable at the time of the adoption of the Fourth Amendment. But when you have to apply that to things like a GPS that nobody could have dreamed of then, I think all you have is the principle and you have to use your judgment to apply it. I think I would consider myself a practical originalist."[6]

According to Constitutional Accountability Center Chief Counsel Brianne Gorod, "What each case demonstrates, however, is Justice Alito’s consistent commitment to conservative principles—even when that requires deviating from precedent to move the law in his desired direction."[7]

Between the time he joined the court and the end of the 2023-2024 term, Alito authored the majority opinion in a 5-4 decision 27 times and authored a dissent in an 8-1 decision 12 times. The table below details these cases by year. Alito's notable opinions while on the United States Supreme Court include:

  • the 6-3 majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), which held that the U.S. Constitution did not provide a right to abortion.
  • the 5-4 majority opinion in Janus v. AFSCME (2018), which held public sector unions could not require non-member employees to pay agency fees.
  • his dissenting opinion in Snyder v. Phelps (2011), in which he disagreed with the majority opinion upholding the right of individuals to peacefully protest the funerals of military service members.
  • the 5-4 majority opinion in McDonald v. Chicago (2010), which held the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment limits the ability of municipalities to pass laws and ordinances infringing on the Second Amendment.

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States Supreme Court (2006-present)

Nomination Tracker
Fedbadgesmall.png
Nominee Information
Name: Samuel Alito
Court: Supreme Court of the United States
Progress
Confirmed 92 days after nomination.
ApprovedANominated: October 31, 2005
ApprovedAABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
Questionnaire: Questionnaire
ApprovedAHearing: January 9-13, 2006
QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more)
ApprovedAReported: January 24, 2006 
ApprovedAConfirmed: January 31, 2006
ApprovedAVote: 58-42

On October 31, 2005, Alito was the third person to be nominated by President George W. Bush (R) to the vacancy that was created when Sandra Day O'Connor announced her assumption of senior status on the Supreme Court of the United States. The first was John Roberts, who was then nominated to be Chief Justice after William Rehnquist passed away. The second was Harriet Miers, who withdrew her nomination after facing opposition. Alito was confirmed on January 31, 2006, on a Senate vote of 58-42. Shortly after the vote, Alito was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts.[8][9]

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (1990-2006)

Alito was nominated by President George H.W. Bush (R) to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit on February 20, 1990. He filled the vacancy created by John Gibbons, whose judicial service ended upon his death on January 15, 1990. Alito was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on April 27, 1990, and received commission on April 30, 1990. Alito served on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals until his confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States in 2006. Alito's vacancy on the Third Circuit was filled by Joseph Greenaway.[2]


Biography

Alito was born in Trenton, New Jersey, on April 1, 1950. Alito attended Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, graduating in 1972 with a degree in political science. While at Princeton, he participated in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). In 1975, Alito received a J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served as editor of the Yale Law Journal.[2][4][5][9][10]

While at Yale, Alito was the chairman and main developer of a conference that produced a report called "The Boundaries of Privacy in American Society" in 1972. To read the full report, click here.

Alito was also an editor for the Yale Law Journal.[11]

Professional career


Military service

Alito was drafted to serve in the Vietnam War on December 1, 1969. He deferred his service while enrolled in college. While at Princeton, he joined the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) so that he could enter active service as an officer after college. Alito was commissioned as a second lieutenant after his graduation from Princeton, but deferred his service a second time as he entered Yale Law School. After graduation from law school, he served three months of active service from September to December of 1975. Alito served in the Army Reserve from 1972 until 1980, when he was honorably discharged with the rank of captain.[12][13]


Approach to the law

Alito has a conservative judicial philosophy.[14] Oyez, a law project created by Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, Justia, and Chicago-Kent College of Law, said that he is "known for his right wing leanings that sometimes encompass libertarian ideals."[15] In January 2019, The National Law Journal called Alito "perhaps the Supreme Court's most reliable conservative."[16]

Martin-Quinn score

Alito's Martin-Quinn score following the 2023-2024 term was 2.56, making him the second most conservative justice on the court at that time. Martin-Quinn scores were developed by political scientists Andrew Martin and Kevin Quinn from the University of Michigan, and measure the justices of the Supreme Court along an ideological continuum. The further from zero on the scale, the more conservative (>0) or liberal (<0) the justice. These are preliminary scores provided by Kevin Quinn that may differ slightly from the final version of the scores that Martin and Quinn will make publicly available at a later date.


The chart below details every justice's Martin-Quinn score for the 2023-2024 term.



Supreme Court statistics

Opinions by year

Below is a table of the number of opinions, concurrences, and dissents that Alito has issued since joining the Supreme Court according to the data from Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute and from the annual Stat Pack produced by the website SCOTUSBlog. This information is updated annually at the end of each term.[17][18][19][20] Information for the 2022 term is from a dataset provided by Dr. Adam Feldman, author of Empirical SCOTUS. Data for the 2022-2023 term does not include concurrences and dissents in part. Information for the 2023-2024 term is from the Empirical SCOTUS 2023 Stat Review.

Opinions written by year, Samuel Alito
2022-2023 2023-2024
Opinions 6 4
Concurrences 4 8
Dissents 8 4
Totals 18 16




Justice agreement

In the 2023-2024 term, Alito had the highest agreement rate with Clarence Thomas. Alito had the lowest agreement rate with Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.[21] In the 2022-2023 term, Alito had the highest agreement rate with Neil Gorsuch, and the lowest agreement rate with Elena Kagan.[22]

The table below highlights Alito's agreement rate with each justice on the court during that term.[23][24]

Samuel Alito agreement rates by term, 2017 - Present
Justice 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023 2023-2024
John Roberts 77% 89% 77% 83% 70% 78% 83%
Anthony Kennedy 82% N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Clarence Thomas 93% 85% 92% 82% 73% 85% 90%
Ruth Bader Ginsburg 54% 57% 51% N/A N/A N/A N/A
Stephen Breyer 54% 64% 54% 59% 38% N/A N/A
Sonia Sotomayor 49% 57% 46% 53% 30% 62% 53%
Elena Kagan 57% 64% 55% 58% 40% 60% 53%
Neil Gorsuch 83% 74% 79% 88% 65% 87% 83%
Brett Kavanaugh N/A 91% 80% 86% 68% 80% 84%
Amy Coney Barrett N/A N/A N/A 87% 72% 78% 81%
Ketanji Brown Jackson N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 64% 59%

Frequency in majority

In the 2023-2024 term, Alito was in the majority in 81 percent of decisions. He was in the majority more often than five other justices.[21] In the 2022-2023 term, Alito was in the majority in 80 percent of decisions. He was in the majority more often than six other justices.[22][20][25][26]
Since the 2011-2012 term, Alito has been in the majority more than 80 percent of the time eight times. Across those terms, he has been in the majority on average 81 percent of the time.[27][20][21]

Noteworthy cases

See also: Noteworthy cases heard by current justices on the U.S. Supreme Court

The noteworthy cases listed in this section include any case where the justice authored a 5-4 majority opinion or an 8-1 dissent. Other cases may be included in this section if they set or overturn an established legal precedent, are a major point of discussion in an election campaign, receive substantial media attention related to the justice's ruling, or based on our editorial judgment that the case is noteworthy. For more on how we decide which cases are noteworthy, click here.


Since he joined the court through the 2023-2024 term, Alito authored the majority opinion in a 5-4 decision 27 times and authored a dissent in an 8-1 decision 12 times. The table below details these cases by year.[28]

Samuel Alito noteworthy cases
Year 5-4 majority opinion 8-1 dissenting opinion
Total 27 12
2023-2024 1 0
2022-2023 0 2
2021-2022 0 0
2020-2021 0 1
2019-2020 2 1
2018-2019 2 0
2017-2018 3 2
2016-2017 0 0
2015-2016 0 1
2014-2015 3 1
2013-2014 2 0
2012-2013 5 2
2011-2012 1 0
2010-2011 0 1
2009-2010 3 1
2008-2009 1 0
2007-2008 1 0
2006-2007 3 0

U.S. Supreme Court noteworthy opinions


U.S. Supreme Court noteworthy opinions


Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit opinions

About the courts

U.S. Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the country and leads the judicial branch of the federal government. It is often referred to by the acronym SCOTUS.[49]

The Supreme Court consists of nine justices: the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices. The justices are nominated by the president and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the United States Senate per Article II of the United States Constitution. As federal judges, the justices serve during "good behavior," which means that justices have tenure for life unless they are removed by impeachment and subsequent conviction.[50]

On January 27, 2022, Justice Stephen Breyer officially announced he would retire at the start of the court's summer recess.[51][52] Breyer assumed senior status on June 30, 2022.[53] Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed to fill the vacancy by the Senate in a 53-47 vote on April 7, 2022.[54] Click here to read more.

The Supreme Court is the only court established by the United States Constitution (in Article III); all other federal courts are created by Congress.

The Supreme Court meets in Washington, D.C., in the United States Supreme Court building. The Supreme Court's yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions in mid-June.[50]

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Third Circuit
Court of Appeals
US-CourtOfAppeals-3rdCircuit-Seal.svg
Judgeships
Posts: 14
Judges: 13
Vacancies: 1
Judges
Chief: Michael Chagares
Active judges: Stephanos Bibas, Emil Bove, Michael Chagares, Cindy Chung, Arianna Freeman, Thomas Hardiman, Cheryl Ann Krause, Paul Matey, Tamika Montgomery-Reeves, Peter Phipps, David Porter, Luis Felipe Restrepo, Patty Shwartz

Senior judges:
Thomas Ambro, Robert Cowen, D. Michael Fisher, Julio Fuentes, Theodore McKee, Richard Nygaard, Marjorie Rendell, Jane Roth, Anthony Scirica, David Brooks Smith, Walter Stapleton


The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit is a federal appellate court with appellate jurisdiction. It hears appeals from all of the circuit courts within its jurisdiction and its rulings may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Appeals are heard in the James A. Byrne Federal Courthouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It shares a courthouse with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

One judge of the Third Circuit went on to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Samuel Alito was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2006 by George W. Bush (R).

The Third Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over cases heard in one of its subsidiary districts. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law. Appeals of rulings by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals are petitioned to the Supreme Court of the United States. Justice Samuel Alito is the circuit justice for the Third Circuit.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court in the following federal judicial districts:

It also has appellate jurisdiction over the United States District Court for the U.S. Virgin Islands which, in spite of the name, is a territorial court and belongs to no federal judicial district.

To read opinions published by this court, click here.


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ New York Times, "Alito Is Sworn In as Justice After 58-42 Vote to Confirm Him," January 31, 2006
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Federal Judicial Center, "Alito, Samuel A. Jr.," archived July 16, 2025
  3. ↑ Congress, "Samuel A. Alito, Jr. United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary," accessed August 27, 2025
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 USA Today, "Who is Justice Samuel A. Alito? Supreme Court justice who wrote opinion overturning Roe v. Wade," June 24, 2022
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Oyez, "Samuel A. Alito, Jr.," archived August 27, 2025
  6. ↑ The American Spectator, "Sam Alito: A Civil Man," April 21, 2014
  7. ↑ The Yale Law Journal, "Sam Alito: The Court’s Most Consistent Conservative," January 24, 2017
  8. ↑ New York Times, "Alito sworn in as justice after senate gives approval," February 1, 2006
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Supreme Court of the United States, "Current Members," archived December 3, 2024
  10. ↑ The Yale Law Journal, "Samuel A. Alito's Note," September 1, 2006
  11. ↑ PBS, "Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr.," accessed April 14, 2021
  12. ↑ Selective Service System, "RESULTS FROM LOTTERY DRAWING - Vietnam Era 1970," archived June 29, 2015
  13. ↑ Washington Post, "Alito joined ROTC while at Princeton," November 3, 2005
  14. ↑ CNN, "Alito's record shows conservative judge," October 31, 2005
  15. ↑ Oyez, "Samuel Alito," accessed April 14, 2021
  16. ↑ The National Law Journal, "Conservative Samuel Alito Channels Liberal Icon Thurgood Marshall on Religion," January 24, 2019
  17. ↑ Cornell University, "WRITINGS BY JUSTICE ALITO," accessed January 21, 2014
  18. ↑ SCOTUSBlog, "Final Stat Pack for October Term 2016 and key takeaways," accessed April 16, 2018
  19. ↑ SCOTUSBlog, "Final Stat Pack for October Term 2017 and key takeaways," accessed October 4, 2018
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 SCOTUSblog, "STAT PACK for the Supreme Court’s 2021-22 term," July 1, 2022
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Empirical SCOTUS, "2023 Stat Review," July 1, 2024
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Empirical SCOTUS, "Another One Bites the Dust: End of 2022/2023 Supreme Court Term Statistics," November 16, 2023
  23. ↑ Due to a change in the 2020 stat pack format, the agreement rate uses the rate of agreement in judgment.
  24. ↑ Due to a change in the 2021 stat pack format, the agreement rate uses the rate of agreement in judgment.
  25. ↑ SCOTUSblog, "2020-21 Stat pack: Frequency in the majority," July 2, 2021
  26. ↑ SCOTUSblog, "Frequency in the Majority," accessed September 21, 2020
  27. ↑ SCOTUSblog, "OT18 Frequency in the Majority," accessed July 3, 2019
  28. ↑ The Supreme Court Database, "Analysis," accessed June 11, 2019
  29. ↑ City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, decided March 4, 2025
  30. ↑ 30.00 30.01 30.02 30.03 30.04 30.05 30.06 30.07 30.08 30.09 30.10 30.11 30.12 30.13 30.14 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Supreme Court of the United States, Campos-Chaves v. Garland, decided June 14, 2024
  32. ↑ U.S. Supreme Court, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, decided June 24, 2022
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Supreme Court of the United States, Kansas v. Garcia, decided March 3, 2020
  34. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, Hernandez v. Mesa, decided February 25, 2020
  35. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, Nielsen v. Preap, decided March 19, 2019
  36. ↑ United States Supreme Court, "Mitchell v. Wisconsin," decided June 27, 2019
  37. ↑ Oyez, "Husted v. Randolph Institute," accessed September 3, 2025
  38. ↑ U.S. Supreme Court, Husted v. Randolph Institute, decided June 11, 2018
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 U.S. Supreme Court, Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31, decided June 27, 2018
  40. ↑ Oyez, "Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31," accessed September 3, 2025
  41. ↑ Oyez, "Abbott v. Perez," accessed September 3, 2025
  42. ↑ U.S. Supreme Court, Abbott v. Perez, decided June 25, 2018
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 U.S. Supreme Court, Snyder v. Phelps, decided March 2, 2011
  44. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "McDonald v. City of Chicago," decided June 28, 2010
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, David Warren Saxe v. State College Area School District; Constance Martin, decided February 14, 2001
  46. ↑ University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, "Judge Alito's opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey," archived August 29, 2025
  47. ↑ U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, decided October 21, 1991
  48. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, accessed January 22, 2014
  49. ↑ The New York Times, "On Language' Potus and Flotus," October 12, 1997
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 SupremeCourt.gov, "A Brief Overview of the Supreme Court," accessed April 20, 2015
  51. ↑ United States Supreme Court, "Letter to President," January 27, 2022
  52. ↑ YouTube, "President Biden Delivers Remarks on the Retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer," January 27, 2022
  53. ↑ Federal Judicial Center, "Breyer, Stephen Gerald," accessed April 13, 2023
  54. ↑ Congress.gov, "PN1783 — Ketanji Brown Jackson — Supreme Court of the United States," accessed April 7, 2022

Political offices
Preceded by
Sandra Day O'Connor 		Supreme Court of the United States
2006-Present		 Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
John Gibbons 		United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit
1990-2006		 Succeeded by
Joseph Greenaway



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