So Mr. Alito, what do you think about free speech?

In case you were wondering, you might want to check this out:

http://www.rcfp.org/news/documents/20051102-alitosreco.html

The link was posted on the freepress website, and it's a pretty detailed rundown. It's hard to summarize, but here's what I can glean:

The guy has ruled pretty consistently to strike down prior restraints, which is a good thing for freedom of the press according to the RCFP, but I don't exactly understand what prior restraints are. Maybe somebody else knows and can post about that.

His decisions don't seem ideological as to state secrets stuff - he's gone both ways on those issues.

In the one big media case he was involved in (when he worked for DOJustice), he argued that an educational broadcasting service that receives government money can't editorialize, and specifically that they can't support candidates for office. The Supreme Court told him to fuck off.

As far as religion, he's ruled in a couple of cases with plaintiffs who said their free exercise rights were being violated, and against plaintiffs who said that the government was respecting an establishment of religion, including a case where he ruled that a PA school district could allow its teachers to hand out evangelical pamphlets at a school info night.

XOXO,
Bert