Samuel Alito | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2007 | |
| Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| Assumed office January 31, 2006 | |
| Nominated by | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Sandra Day O'Connor |
| Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit | |
| In office April 30, 1990 – January 31, 2006 | |
| Nominated by | George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by | John Joseph Gibbons |
| Succeeded by | Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. |
| United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey | |
| In office December 10, 1987 – April 30, 1990 | |
| Nominated by | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Thomas Greelish |
| Succeeded by | Michael Chertoff |
| Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel | |
| In office 1985–1987 | |
| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. April 1, 1950 Trenton, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Spouse |
Martha-Ann Bomgardner
(m. 1985) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | |
| Awards | Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2017) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1972–1980 |
| Rank |  Captain |
| Unit | Signal Corps (Reserve) |
Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. (/əˈliːtoʊ/ ə-LEE-toh; born April 1, 1950) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated to the high court by President George W. Bush on October 31, 2005, and has served on it since January 31, 2006. After Antonin Scalia, Alito is the second Italian American justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Alito was raised in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, and was educated at Princeton University and Yale Law School. After graduating from law school, he worked as an assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel and served as the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. In 1990, Alito was appointed as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, where he served until joining the Supreme Court. He has called himself a "practical originalist"[1] and is a member of the Supreme Court's conservative bloc.[2]
Alito has written majority opinions in the landmark cases McDonald v. Chicago (2010) on firearm rights, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014) on insurance coverage, Janus v. AFSCME (2018) on public-sector union security agreements, and Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022) on abortion.