9:36 - Alito has already agreed with Griswold and Eisenstadt, and now speaks to the generalities of stare decisis and the specific of "reliance". It sounds like he's going to take the same position as Roberts did. Specter keeps cutting off his answers, but Alito is remaining firm that the Court should not "sway in the wind of public opinion at any time," but stay focused on the law.

9:46 - "Super precedent" as a term is like laundry detergent. Specter meanwhile pulls out the same chart he used in the Roberts hearing to argue for upholding Roe.

9:49 - Alito emphasizes that he has to put aside the work he did as an attorney and an advocate once he puts on the judge's robes. Alito notes that he held the view that the Constitution did not hold a right to an abortion in 1985, but his views at this point are immaterial.

9:55 - It looks like Alito has run the abortion gauntlet with Specter. This appears to have been one of the "subtle minuets" that got mentioned in yesterday's hearing. Specter ran through the questions rather quickly after hearing the components of answers that made Alito appear most moderate on the question. An old prosecutor himself, I expect that Specter knew exactly what answers he would get from Alito -- yet another indication that Specter is back on the reservation.

10:00 - The memo on presidential powers gets the last part of Specter's attention. Alito talked about the fact that the memo was a rough draft for an advocacy position, and that the advocates had a responsibility to pursue all hypotheticals before signing off on an opinion.

10:04 - Leahy says "We'll have the chance to listen to you." Not hardly, if the Roberts hearing gives any indication.

10:10 - Senator Frist has dropped in for a visit ... (moved section to new post.)

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