Bush Said His Nominees Won’t Change Their Minds In 20 Years

Documents released yesterday revealed that Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito wrote in 1985 that he personally believed the Constitution did not protect a woman’s right to an abortion:

Conservatives are arguing that what Alito thought 20 years ago doesn’t matter. But President Bush explicitly said that one of his considerations in nominating a Supreme Court justice is finding someone whose views would not change over a 20-year timeframe. From Bush’s 10/4/05 press conference:

Thirdly, I know her well enough to be able to say that she’s not going to change, that 20 years from now she’ll be the same person with the same philosophy that she is today. … And that’s important to me. It was important to me when I picked Chief Justice Roberts; it’s important for me in picking Harriet Miers.

One can only assume that it was also important to him when he selected Judge Alito.