Alito Intelligence

. . .at the tail end of this National Catholic Register interview with Kevin Seamus Hasson, who once worked with him and has appeared before him in court. Kind of Good News/Bad News if you share "my" (natural law) approach to law.

What can you say about his general legal philosophy?
I have appeared before him four times now in arguing cases before the 3rd Circuit, and he is meticulously committed to adhering to the Constitution, and at the same time not going an inch farther than he has to in deciding any given case. So he’s conservative in the sense that he’s committed to the Constitution as it is rather than as someone thinks it ought to be, and he’s conservative in the sense he will not reach out to decide great questions if there is no need to do so. [Emphasis mine].

What is his attitude toward precedent?
Judge Alito in my experience has given due weight to precedent, no more, no less.