Getty Samuel Alito and his wife
Martha Bomgardner is the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe on Friday, June 24, 2022. You can read the 6-3 decision here.
That has all eyes on Alito. His wife’s name is also given as Martha-Ann Bomgardner and Martha-Ann Alito and Martha Ann Alito.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Bomgardner Worked as a Law Librarian
GettySamuel Alito (L) is sworn in as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court while Chief Justice John Roberts (R) reaches for a handshake while Martha Alito (2nd L) holds a bible during a ceremony in the East Room at the White House February 1, 2006 in Washington, DC.
According to The Sun, Bomgardner is a former law librarian.
She stays out of the public eye for the most part.
She met Alito when he would visit the law library where she worked. He was a law clerk at the time, The Sun reported. She did speak at the University of Kentucky in the past. That university gave this biographical information for her:
She completed a B.A. in comparative literature in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, and an M.A. in library science in the School of Library and Information Science. She worked as a reference librarian at Neptune Public Library in Neptune, New Jersey; a librarian at the United States Attorney’s Office in Newark, New Jersey; Head of Reference at the U.S. Department of Justice; and Library Director at Congressional Quarterly.
According to the Sun, Alito was so “shy” that it took him 13 months to ask his future wife out.
After a year of dating, they moved together to Washington D.C.
2. Alito’s Wife Was Born in Kentucky to a Father Who Was in the Air Force
GettySupreme Court Justice Samuel Alito (L) arrives with his family, including his wife, Martha-Ann, son Philip and daughter Laura.
Bomgardner was born in Kentucky.
“Martha-Ann Alito entered a whole new world after her husband’s U.S. Supreme Court appointment in 2006,” reads the statement from the University of Kentucky, where she once spoke. It describes her as a “Kentucky native and University of Kentucky graduate.”
According to that article, “Martha-Ann Bomgardner Alito was born in Ft. Knox, Kentucky. Her father’s Air Force career took her to Azores, Texas, France, Maine and New Jersey during her childhood.”
3. Bomgardner Was in the News When Spam Emails Were Sent Out in Her Name
GettyAlito and his wife
Alito’s wife once fell victim to spammers.
According to Above the Law, a spam email originated from the email address of “Martha-Ann Alito.”
It was about increasing “document productivity and efficiency throughout your legal drafting workflow.”
The author emailed Alito and “suggested that she change her email password.” She emailed the author to apologize even though she was just the victim of a spammer.
4. Alito & His Wife Inherited Stocks From Her Father That Led to His Recusals From Court Cases
GettyAlito and his family
According to The Associated Press, Alito recused himself from about six dozen cases before the U.S. Supreme Court with no explanation.
However, financial disclosures showed that Alito and his wife, Martha Ann, “inherited dozens of stocks when her father, Bobby Gene Bomgardner, died last year,” according to the AP. That was in 2013. The cases involved companies where the Alitos have shares.
The companies include “Abbott Laboratories, AT&T Inc., Boeing Co., Chevron Corp., IBM Corp. and Verizon Communications,” AP reported, as well as tobacco companies and “energy firms” and pharmaceutical companies.
Martha’s father died in 2012 at age 81, according to an online obituary for him.
5. Alito & His Wife Have Two Children & Have Been Married for Decades
GettyAlito and his wife
Justice Alito and his wife have two children, Laura and Philip.
White House archives say it’s a long-term marriage. “In 1985, he married Martha-Ann Bomgardner, with whom he has two children,” the site reports.
According to those archives, Alito was nominated to the court by former President George W. Bush. He served in various capacities in the law before that, including as a federal judge and assistant attorney general. He was also a U.S. attorney.
“Samuel A. Alito, Jr., was born in April, 1950, in Trenton, New Jersey. Justice Alito received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and attended Yale Law School, where he served as an editor on the Yale Law Journal,” that biography reads.
The justice was born in New Jersey to teacher parents, according to ABC17.
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