Alito to Senate: Judges Can’t Have Agenda

By JESSE J. HOLLAND

WASHINGTON – Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito said Monday that judges should operate free of any agenda or preferred outcomes as the Senate opened hearings on President Bush’s choice for the high court.

“A judge can’t have any agenda. A judge can’t have a preferred outcome in any case,” Alito told the Senate Judiciary Committee in a brief statement in which he made the distinction between judges and attorneys working for clients.