The full Senate will vote as early as today on Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination even as Republicans try to rally opposition on grounds she would bring a dangerous new standard of judicial “empathy” to the court.
We’re not buying it, and neither should anyone else.
Despite some unwise comments in public speeches, Sotomayor has a 17-year federal judicial record of narrowly focused, meticulously researched decisions that cannot credibly be called “activist.”
Her extraordinary personal journey from a Bronx housing project to Yale Law School, and the fact that she would become the first Latina Supreme Court justice in this nation’s history, only enhance her appeal.
But those are not reasons to confirm her nomination. She should be confirmed, without delay, because she is qualified for the job.
Though it’s clear Sotomayor would not be the first choice of Republicans for the Supreme Court vacancy, it is not their decision to make.
The Senate’s role in Supreme Court nominations is constitutionally limited to one of “advice” and “consent” on the president’s selections for the court.
In recent years, especially since Democrats scuttled Ronald Reagan’s nomination of Robert Bork, the Supreme Court nomination process has become far too political, and too far removed from the role outlined by the framers of the Constitution.
This applies not only to Republicans, but to Democrats as well. They would be wise to keep in mind the arguments they’re making about ideologically based opposition when the pendulum swings and they’re facing judicial candidates nominated by a Republican president.
In this case, opponents made much of an out-of-court speech by Sotomayor in which she said she hoped a “wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences” would reach a better conclusion than a white man “who hasn’t lived that life.”
There is no doubt that’s a troubling statement worth probing. During confirmation hearings, Sotomayor distanced herself from that statement, saying it was “a rhetorical flourish that fell flat.”
She also, in three days of hearings and some 583 questions from senators, came off as unflappable and polite, adroitly avoiding expressing her views on pressing issues that might come before the court. Despite criticisms that she was prone to be hot- headed, she showed herself to be anything but in what was a pressure- cooker atmosphere.
Sotomayor pledged fidelity to the law, and said her empathy, cited by President Obama, helps her understand a case and does not distort her decisions about questions of law.
Those who count noses say Sotomayor’s confirmation is a foregone conclusion, so it seems the ongoing debate is an effort to set the stage for future nominations. Those are battles for another day. Sonia Sotomayor clearly is qualified and senators ought to quickly confirm her.
