Samuel Anthony Alito Jr.
How Judge Alito rules, drawn from 24 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Alito left this court for the U.S. Supreme Court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Alito
Samuel A. Alito, Jr. was a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Appointed by President George H.W. Bush, Judge Alito received a commission on April 30, 1990. Judge Alito left the court on January 31, 2006 on appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States.
How Judge Alito decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In United States Trustee v. Price Waterhouse, Alito enforced the Bankruptcy Code's disinterested-professional requirement and held that equitable considerations could not override the unambiguous statutory text.
“As the Sixth Circuit has aptly observed, however, ‘bankruptcy courts cannot use equitable principles to disregard unambiguous statutory language.’”
In Showalter, Alito reversed summary judgment for the employer after finding that the employee had produced evidence from which a reasonable factfinder could disbelieve the employer’s stated reason for termination.
“Accordingly, we hold that the Magistrate Judge erred in holding that Showalter did not adduce evidence from which a reasonable factfinder could disbelieve UPMC’s articulated justification for terminating Showalter.”
Procedural preferences
Requires clarity about whether a sentencing departure ruling rests on legal authority or discretion.
“Accordingly, in cases such as this, where the record does not make clear whether the district court’s denial of departure was based on legal or discretionary grounds, we believe that the appropriate course of action is to vacate the sentence and remand for the district court to clarify the basis for its ruling.”
Treats dismissal without leave to amend as requiring a recognized justification such as futility, prejudice, delay, or bad faith.
“We hold, however, that it is not and that now, as before, in the situation presented here, dismissal without leave to amend is justified only on the grounds of bad faith, undue delay, prejudice, or futility.”
Cautions
Distinguishes unfair treatment from the objectively intolerable conditions needed for constructive discharge.
“We accept these apparent conclusions for purposes of this appeal, but it is clear that unfair and unwarranted treatment is by no means the same as constructive discharge.”
In United States v. Kithcart, he rejected a probable-cause finding based on the descriptions and evidence before the officer, then remanded for a narrower reasonable-suspicion inquiry.
“For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the district court erred in finding that Officer Nelson had probable cause to arrest and search Kithcart.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“We will therefore reverse the order of the district court and remand for the entry of an order holding that Dr. Matthews’ entire NHSC obligation is nondis-chargeable.”
“The order of the district court will therefore be affirmed.”
“In sum, we hold that the evidence in this case was insufficient to show that Clowes was constructively discharged. The judgment of the district court is therefore reversed.”
“For these reasons, we conclude that the district court properly held that the DER is entitled to $113,622.30 in administrative expenses, and we therefore affirm the order of the district court.”
“For these reasons, we affirm the convictions of both defendants, but we vacate their sentences and remand these cases to the district court for further proceedings and resentencing in accordance with this opinion.”
“For the reasons explained above, we hold that 11 U.S.C. § 327(a) prohibits the debtors in this case from employing Price Water-house. We therefore reverse the order of the district court.”
“In conclusion, we find no ground for reversing any part of the consolidated judgment entered by the district court. That judgment is therefore affirmed.”
“Accordingly, the district court’s decision to grant summary judgment to the defendants on count II must be affirmed.”
“We therefore grant Cort’s petition for review; we reverse the April 30, 1992 Decision and Order of the Benefits Review Board; and we remand this case solely for the entry of an award by the Board.”
“Accordingly, we will affirm the decision of the district court dismissing SFMC's complaint.”
“We hold that the district court did not err in calculating Mummert’s sentence under the Guidelines, but we remand for further proceedings concerning Mummert’s downward departure request.”
“In sum, we hold that the district court correctly granted Woodhead’s motion for summary judgment on the basis of the entire controversy doctrine. The order of the district court will therefore be affirmed.”
A historical record
Judge Alito left this court for the U.S. Supreme Court. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.