Samuel Alito assured Ted Kennedy in 2005 of respect for Roe, diary reveals

Excerpts reported by biographer show Alito, who wrote June ruling that outlawed abortion, said he was big believer in precedents'

In a private meeting in 2005, Samuel Alito, who would become the US supreme court justice who wrote the ruling removing the federal right to abortion, assured Ted Kennedy of his respect for Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 court decision which made the procedure legal in the US.

I am a believer in precedents," Alito said, according to diary excerpts reported by the Massachusetts senator's biographer, John A Farrell, on Monday. People would find I adhere to that."