10 Alito Quotes To Mark His 20 Years On The Supreme Court

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito just hit a major milestone in his judicial career. On Saturday, the Bush appointee marked his 20th anniversary as a justice on the highest court in the land.

Since joining SCOTUS, Alito has been a staunch and reliable originalist, authoring some of the court’s most significant decisions of the 21st century. This includes the court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling, which overturned the horrifically decided Roe v. Wade (1973) and the imaginary “constitutional right” to abortion.

Producing strong, consistent originalist interpretation and wisdom at the Supreme Court for two decades is no small feat. So, it only seemed fitting that The Federalist compile 10 of the justice’s best quotes from over the years to celebrate the occasion.

Doing What’s Right

During an interview with the Hoover Institution’s Peter Robinson last year, Alito affirmed that it’s the duty of all judges to ignore the politics of the day and instead focus on properly adhering to the Constitution — even if doing so may yield an unpopular result.

“We are not supposed to do what is popular, we’re supposed to do what is right. We’re supposed to interpret the Constitution and figure out what it means and then apply the Constitution,” Alito said. “We’re basically a democratic country, but the framers want to put some restraint on things that people might do during a particular area because they’re caught up in the emotions that are triggered by the events of the day. So, we have to stand firm on this, and I think we have done a pretty good job on it, but we have to keep it up because challenges will … continue to come.”

Defending Free Speech

When the Supreme Court dismissed a legal challenge to the Biden administration’s collusion with Big Tech to censor Americans in Murthy v. Missouri (2024), it was Alito who offered a full-throated defense of these challengers’ free speech rights.

Writing for the dissent, the Bush appointee chastised the majority for failing to recognize the “blatantly unconstitutional” nature of the government’s Big Tech censorship scheme. He further warned about “the message” the court’s ruling would send to future wannabe government censors and underscored the importance of free speech in American society.

“Freedom of speech serves many valuable purposes, but its most important role is protection of speech that is essential to democratic self-government … and speech that advances humanity’s store of knowledge, thought, and expression in fields such as science, medicine, history, the social sciences, philosophy, and the arts,” Alito wrote. “[W]e are obligated to tackle the free speech issue that the case presents. The Court, however, shirks that duty and thus permits the successful campaign of coercion in this case to stand as an attractive model for future officials who want to control what the people say, hear, and think. That is regrettable.”

Standing Up for Parental Rights

Alito was at the forefront of the Supreme Court’s recognition that parents have a fundamental interest in the religious upbringing of their children. Last year, the Bush appointee authored the majority decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor, in which the court held that parents can opt their children out of LGBT propaganda pushed in their schools.

“It must be emphasized that what the parents seek here is not the right to micromanage the public school curriculum, but rather to have their children opt out of a particular educational requirement that burdens their well-established right ‘to direct “the religious upbringing” of their children,’” Alito wrote. “The Board’s introduction of the ‘LGBTQ+-inclusive’ storybooks, along with its decision to withhold opt outs, places an unconstitutional burden on the parents’ rights to the free exercise of their religion.”

[RELATED: Alito Scolds Lower Courts For Dodging Cases On Schools ‘Transing’ Kids Behind Parents’ Backs]

Nuking Roe and Casey

The current Supreme Court delivered what is arguably one of the biggest wins for the Constitution in 2022 when it overturned Roe v. Wade (and its successor Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey) and the non-existent “constitutional right” to abortion. And naturally, Alito was at the forefront of making it happen.

Writing for the majority, the Bush appointee noted that nowhere does the Constitution “reference” abortion, let alone a “right” to it. He additionally highlighted the egregious jurisprudence displayed by the Supreme Court that decided Roe and Casey and the harmful fallout resulting from such decisions.

“The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely—the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” Alito wrote. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives. … That is what the Constitution and the rule of law demand.”

A ‘Colorblind’ Constitution

While discussing past affirmative action cases during his interview with Robinson, Alito reaffirmed that the Constitution is a “colorblind” document that treats every American equally. He noted that ignoring this reality and giving certain races preferential treatment under the law does nothing more than undermine American cohesion.

“I think that our Constitution is colorblind … How are we gonna hold together if we don’t regard each other simply as fellow human beings, as fellow Americans, and judge people based on their individual characteristics?” Alito said.

Religious Liberty

Alito delivered the keynote address at Notre Dame Law School’s 2022 Religious Liberty Summit, in which he spoke about the importance of religious liberty. While highlighting these freedoms’ contributions to civil society, the justice warned about their fragility and the need to defend them against persecution.

“[W]e can’t lightly assume that the religious liberty enjoyed today in the United States, in Europe, and in many other places will always endure. Religious liberty is fragile, and religious intolerance and persecution have been recurring features of human history,” Alito said.

Alito the Comedian

While Alito is certainly known for his incredible intellect, he’s also quite a funny guy. The Bush appointee displayed his penchant for humor during a 2014 Yale Law School event alongside fellow Yale alumni and Justices Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor.

When asked by the event moderator what good book he’s read recently, Alito slowly and calmly claimed that there are two books he keeps on his nightstand. What the moderator, his fellow justices, and the audience didn’t expect, however, was Alito’s joking answer that these two books were Thomas’ and Sotomayor’s autobiographies.

“Well, I have two books that are inspirational, and I keep them on the table by my bed. I try to read them a little bit every night. It’s My Grandfather’s Son and My Beloved World,” Alito said, prompting roaring laughter from his fellow justices and the audience.

Constitutional Rights Are Non-Negotiable

While delivering an address at The Federalist Society’s virtual 2020 National Lawyers Convention, Alito underscored that Americans’ constitutional freedoms are not up for negotiation. He further noted that just because there’s a so-called public “emergency,” that doesn’t give the government license to suspend these rights.

“Whatever one may think about the Covid restrictions, we surely don’t want them to become a recurring feature after the pandemic has passed,” Alito said. “All sorts of things can be called an emergency or disaster of major proportions. Simply slapping on that label cannot provide the ground for abrogating our most fundamental rights. And whenever fundamental rights are restricted, the Supreme Court and other courts cannot close their eyes.”

‘What is a Woman?’

The written page isn’t the only place where Alito displays his sharp intellect. The justice has also gained a reputation for his skilled questioning during oral arguments before the Supreme Court.

A good example of this came during the high court’s recent hearings for cases weighing the legality of state laws preventing trans-identifying men from competing in women’s sports. Alito asked the attorney of the trans-identifying male challenging one of the laws at issue a simple question: to define what it means “to be a boy or a girl or a man or a woman.”

The left-wing lawyer declined to provide a definitive answer, leading Alito to ponder how courts are supposed to “determine whether there’s discrimination on the basis of sex without knowing what sex means for equal protection purposes.”

Hard Work Wins

During a 2014 interview, Alito was asked about the subject of “hard work,” and whether, as a child, he believed anything could be possible if he adhered to such a philosophy. The son of an Italian immigrant, Alito cited his parents’ influence on his life and their unshakeable belief that hard work will, in fact, take you places in life if you commit to it.

“Although my parents grew up in poor families where little English was spoken, they both went to college and became teachers. They believed that anything was possible with hard work, and they particularly stressed the importance of education. They instilled that same belief in my sister and me,” Alito said.

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood