Newly released documents show that Supreme Court Justice nominee Samuel Alito said 20 years ago “the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion.” Alito made the statements in a job application to become deputy assistant to Ronald Reagan’s Attorney General Edwin Meese. In the job application he wrote “I am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government argued that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion.” Alito said it had been a “source of great personal satisfaction” to help advance such legal causes because he believed in them “very strongly.” He also wrote at the time “I believe very strongly in limited government, federalism, free enterprise, the supremacy of the elected branches of government, the need for a strong defense and effective law enforcement, and the legitimacy of a government role in protecting traditional values.” In the same document he revealed that he was a “lifelong registered” Republican, a Federalist Society member and that he had donated money to the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Conservative Political Action Committee. Sen. Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said the documents reveal that Alito is an “aggressive participant in an ideological movement intended to withdraw discrimination protections from workers.” Alito’s confirmation hearing is scheduled to begin on January 9th.