From the NewsMax.com Staff

For the story behind the story...

Dianne Feinstein Urges Alito Filibuster

Reprint Information

Book on Katie Couric Makes Waves White House: We're Not Subject to FOIA FBI Seeks 2 Mysterious Men on Ferry Publisher: Conservatives Do Read As Much As Liberals Romney Shrugs Off Mormon History Film

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Sunday that she will support a Democratic filibuster of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito if it becomes clear he'll vote to overturn Roe vs Wade.

Asked if she would consider it "filibuster material" if she finds out that Alito intends to vote against Roe, Feinstein told "Fox News Sunday": "If I believe that he was going to go in there and overthrow Roe, the question is, most likely, yes."

The California Democrat, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that any High Court nominee who thought Roe had been "improperly decided" was outside the judicial mainstream.

"Precedent has been established," Feinstein insisted. "Women all over America have come to depend on it. Because of the lapse of time, more than 30 years, because of the precedential values attached to it, I think it would be, for many of us, a very difficult thing to see somebody who you knew was going to overthrow Roe [added to the Court]."

Story Continues Below

  Asked if opposition to Roe qualified as an "extraordinary circumstance" that would warrant a filibuster, the Judiciary Committee Democrat said tersely, "Yes."

Appearing on the same program, Sen. Lindsey Graham blasted Feinstein for her comments.

"That's a very dangerous thing to say," Graham complained. "If you have to come to the [Judiciary] Committee and say that under no circumstances will I entertain to look at Roe v Wade anew, I think that's very unfair."

Speaking as a member of the gang of 14, which was formed last year in a bid to avert judicial filibusters, Graham said he would vote in invoke to so-called nuclear option.

"I would consider [opposition to Roe] not only not an extraordinary circumstance, [it's] a threat to the independence of the judiciary," he told Fox. "And I would stop it in its tracks with my vote."

Editor's note:
Wear the USS Ronald Reagan fleece jacket – Click Here Now for FREE offer!
Rush Limbaugh Says the War for the Court Has Begun! Find Out Details – Click Here Now
Pope Benedict XVI – Find Out What He Really Believes – Click Here Now

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

Bush Administration
Supreme Court Nominee

Inside Cover Stories
FBI Seeks 2 Mysterious Men on Ferry

Publisher: Conservatives Do Read As Much As Liberals

Romney Shrugs Off Mormon History Film

Bob Grant to Return to Radio

Carville Seeks Perfect '08 Bumper Sticker More Inside Cover Stories