When Justice Alito was still on the Third Circuit, he was on the panel before whom I appeared, and authored the an opinion in a case early in my civil rights career, I represented a man, David Chittister, who sued the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development for First Amendment retaliation and for violations of the Family Medical Leave Act.  The case was mentioned in his Supreme Court confirmation hearings – https://books.google.com/books?id=cQPWT1nb6soC&pg=PA1362&lpg=PA1362&dq=chittister+v+dced&source=bl&ots=6TSDkb3E3t&sig=FC_m5lu6P_x6joWcBjAA38UK1GY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi6p-fap-zQAhWD4iYKHYO9DfIQ6AEINDAE#v=onepage&q=chittister%20v%20dced&f=false.

The claim involved a scheme to circumvent an open political graft program (the “WAM” program for “Walking Around Money”) which Governor Tom Ridge eliminated as a campaign promise.  It was a significant factor in his election.  Upon the change in administration, the money earmarked for that program was funneled through a program managed by Mr. Chittister.  He denied the one-line requests for a few thousand dollars here and there for no programmatic purpose, and began to…