The Company Man

Durbin asked why he had used an analogy that his fellow judges had called totally inappropriate and suggestive of a disregard of "the history of discrimination against prospective black jurors and black defendants."

Alito responded, "Well, the analogy . . . went to the issue of statistics and the use and misuse of statistics, and the fact that statistics can be quite misleading . . . that's what that was referring to. There's a whole -- statistics is a branch of mathematics, and there are ways to analyze statistics so that you draw sound conclusions from them and avoid erroneous conclusions from them."

That perfectly bureaucratic response betrays not the slightest doubt about the human consequences of his reasoning.

Durbin cited other examples, including the mentally retarded man who was harassed and almost raped by other workers, and whom Alito denied a new trial because of the inadequacies of his lawyer's brief. And the same narrow construction led to other Alito dissents in cases of mine safety and environmental protection.

To be sure, Alito was able to cite decisions in which he ruled for individuals and against the government. But the pattern of his jurisprudence -- and the workings of his mind -- show Bush is going to get exactly what he wants from his latest Supreme Court pick: a company man.

davidbroder@washpost.com