THE NEW YORK TIMES has a rather positive profile of Judge Alito in tomorrow’s edition. “Judge Alito’s jurisprudence has been methodical, cautious, respectful of precedent and solidly conservative, legal scholars said. In cases involving the great issues of the day – abortion, the death penalty and the separation of church and state – Judge Alito has typically taken the conservative side. Yet he has not flaunted his political views inside or outside the courthouse. Friends say Judge Alito seems to have inherited a distaste for shows of ideology from his father, an Italian immigrant who became research director for the New Jersey Legislature and had to rigorously avoid partisanship.”

On the other hand, there’s this smoking gun: “As for Judge Alito’s trumpet skills, the former band leader said, ‘he certainly was no virtuoso.'”