Kennedy demands CAP archives

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), the second-ranking Democrat on the judiciary committee, is calling for the release of documents to shed light on the involvement of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito '72 with a conservative Princeton alumni group.

In a Dec. 22 letter to committee chairman Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Kennedy asked that the private documents of William Rusher '44, a former leader of Concerned Alumni of Princeton (CAP), be made public. Rusher's private papers are currently held in the Library of Congress.

"In view of CAP's troubling opposition to equal educational opportunity for women, minorities and the disabled, it is important for the committee to learn more about Judge Alito's involvement in this organization," Kennedy wrote, adding that he wanted Alito to answer questions about his involvement with the group during confirmation hearings, which began Monday.

"In 1975 an official report by a committee of Princeton alumni that included William Frist ['74], now Senator Frist, concluded that CAP's 'distorted, narrow and hostile view of the University' had 'misinformed and even alarmed many alumni' and 'undoubtedly generated adverse national publicity,' " Kennedy wrote.

Rusher, who was reached the same week the letter was sent, said that he had "no recollection" of Alito ever being affiliated with the group and that he didn't understand why Kennedy was seeking access to his papers, given that The New York Times has already searched them and turned up nothing substantial regarding Alito.

"[Times reporter] David Kirkpatrick ['92] got my permission to go through the files and apparently found no smoking gun," Rusher said. "He turned up dry. Unless he's part of some right-wing conspiracy, I don't think there's anything there."

"If they had found anything discreditable to Judge Alito he would have been on page one of The New York Times," said Rusher, who served as publisher of the National Review, a prominent conservative magazine, from 1957 to 1988.

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Kennedy's request, which comes amid a much broader effort to find clues as to Alito's judicial philosophy and personal beliefs, is the latest attempt to probe the nominee's college-related activities. Supporters and opponents alike have mined Alito's college work, including his Wilson School task force paper and senior thesis, in search of evidence to support their side.

One of the most controversial issues has been Alito's apparent involvement in CAP, which opponents have used to suggest Alito held views out of step with most Americans.

In a 1985 application for a job in Ronald Reagan? 's Justice Department, Alito wrote that he was a member of the Concerned Alumni of Princeton University, a conservative alumni group" — the revelation that led to Kennedy' ?s letter. In a recent statement to the judiciary committee and during confirmation hearings this week Alito repeatedly said he had no memory of being involved in the group.

CAP, which was founded in 1972 and had become largely defunct by the 1980s, is portrayed by critics as a far-right organization funded by conservative alumni committed to turning back the clock on coeducation and affirmative action at the University. Supporters, on the other hand, say the group was dedicated to increasing alumni involvement in University governance and tempering Nassau Hall's left-wing excesses.

Rusher's recollection of CAP is "simply that we were a group of alumni who saw the University trending steadily toward the left liberal side of the spectrum in all sorts of ways," he said. "We were concerned by that."

Asked about the origins of the group, Rusher said he had "forgotten what it was precisely" given how many years it has been since he was involved with the group. He conceded, however, that it "may have been the admission of women that triggered the group," though Kennedy's suggestion that the group was critical of the rights of disabled people was "preposterous."

A summary of Rusher's papers notes that several boxes include "records pertaining to [CAP] documenting his objections to the intolerance by liberals of conservative views and traditional values at Princeton University and other colleges."

A list describing the contents of Rusher's papers says that the several boxes of material from 1972-87 include correspondence, memoranda, financial records, minutes of meetings, lists of supporters and fundraising material.

Fox News senior legal analyst and former New Jersey superior court judge Andrew Napolitano '72, the only CAP member who could be reached by The Daily Princetonian, said earlier that he has "zero recollection" of Alito participating in the group. "His recollection and mine — which is that there's no recollection of him attending any of this stuff — are the same," Napolitano said earlier this month. "In my opinion, it's a dead issue."

Kennedy argued the opposite in his letter, though.

"Judge Alito's assertion that he cannot recall anything about his controversial involvement in CAP, requires us to find other ways of fulfilling our constitutional responsibility to get at the facts," Kennedy wrote. "The Rusher papers provide a readily available means of doing so. Certainly we do not want to leave the Committee, the Senate and the nation open to an unwelcome surprise when the papers eventually become public after Mr. Rusher's death."

He also noted that former Sen. Bill Bradley '65, who originally served on the advisory board of CAP's magazine, "publicly separated himself from the group in 1973 because he felt it promoted a 'right-wing view' rather than the 'balanced view' he had been led to believe it would present."

Elliot Mincberg, vice president and legal director for People for the American Way, a liberal advocacy group that opposes Alito's nomination and called for the release of the Rusher papers in November, praised Kennedy's letter.

"We frankly did not know about Sen. Kennedy's request until it happened, but we think it was an appropriate request and we hope that Sen. Specter will take it seriously," Mincberg said in an interview. "Now [Alito] is attempting to get what would clearly be the most important job of his entire career and we think that it is perfectly appropriate to try and obtain documents that may shed light on his views."

Specter's office did not returned repeated requests seeking comment. A spokesperson for Kennedy's office said last week that they had not heard back from Specter regarding a decision.

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