You mentioned that Alito could provide the 5th vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.

With Scalia, Thomas and presumably Roberts and Alito voting to overturn, would Kennedy cast the 5th vote?

It seems like Kennedy has moderated his stance on certain issues, and has positioned himself to be the new swing voter on the Court. Do you thing he would vote to overturn Roe?

And what kind of case would need to come up in order to allow the Court to overturn Roe? Would a state need to pass a law criminalizing abortion and then have that law upheld by the Court?

That would be the hope of conservatives; that Kennedy would not hold out, at least on a case that isn't a direct assault on Roe, and maybe even one that is. There are always cases (such as involving partial birth abortion laws) percolating through the state and federal systems that would give the Court an opportunity to revisit or limit Roe. See, e.g., Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, to be argued before the Court on Nov. 30.

Do you think he would vote to overturn Roe?

He was appointed as a moderate, after the ultra conservative Robert Bork was rejected. He has been moderate on issues like abortion, affirmative action and the death penalty.

He has the opportunity to control the court now, in much the same way O'Connor did on so many important cases. It just seems like conservatives are still a vote away from flat out overturning Roe, which is what they say the ultimate goal is.

And if it is overturned, what happens next? Does Alabama pass a law criminalizing abortion right away? Polls suggest that about 60% of the country is pro choice so what would be the actual, practical consequences of overturning Roe?

Despite his vote in Casey, Justice Kennedy is not solidly in the pro-choice camp. For a case in which Justice O'Connor provided the swing vote (and Kennedy voted to uphold the abortion restriction), see Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.S. 914 (2000).

Professor:

You mentioned that Professor Hansen doesn't think that Judge Alito will be confirmed. I don't see how this is possible. The Republicans have more than enough votes to confirm Alito and considering they are so good at towing the party line, I don't think there will be any Republicans, at least those that want to go anywhere in Congress, that don't vote to confirm. In addition, there are some semi/psuedo democrats who will probably also vote for him.

Though the democrats will clearly put up a big fight, I see the only way to "stop" the nomination is by filibuster.

Considering that the Republicans are rejoicing over this nomination, why wouldn't they resort to the nuclear option as the threatened in the past?

I would have liked to see someone more moderate and less partisan (Yes, I know...Alito will follow the rule of law and he believes in precedent) be appointed to the Supreme Court, but hey, wasn't this Bush's mandate? This is his opportunity to set things "right" in this country for the next generation. scary. I just hope things can be fixed after he and his neocon cronies are gone.

So, what has to happen for the Justices to decide to take on an abortion related case again? Does there have to be a unanimous decision by all the Justices to hear the case? majority?

It requires the affirmative vote of 4 justices to grant certiorari in any case.

The peopel for the American Way have a good summary of how Alito will affect the Supreme Court, granted the organization seems biased against him
http://www.savethecourt.org/site/c.mwK0JbNTJrF/b.1144731/k.AF81/Quick_Facts_on_Samuel_Alito.htm