Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) just announced that she will vote to confirm Sonia Sotomayor, making her the second Republican, along with Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), to come out for Obama's Supreme Court pick.
"I was impressed with Judge Sotomayor's comportment and obvious mastery of the law during this week's nomination hearings," Snowe said in a statement. "Her presentation reinforced what I learned about her during our meeting in June at which we discussed her judicial philosophy and view of constitutional interpretation--how she methodically approaches each case, the factors she considers in applying law to fact, and how she addresses challenges to legal precedent."
Snowe praised Sotomayor for pledging to apply the law rather than follow her own sympathies, a message Sotomayor hammered away at over her four day hearings.
"I was pleased that Judge Sotomayor repeatedly recognized in her responses this week that 'the job of a judge is to apply the law' rather than independently make policy, and that it is the law, rather than one's own sympathies that 'compels conclusions in cases,'" Snowe said.
Snowe added that she expects Sotomayor to be confirmed before the August recess.
The Republicans' leader in the Senate will vote against confirming Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, he announced Friday.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Friday he would oppose confirmation for President Obama's pick to join the top bench, citing a concern over her regard for precedent and the finality of Supreme Court jurists' opinions.
"Judge Sotomayor's record of written statements suggest an alarming lack of respect for the notion of equal justice, and therefore, in my view, an insufficient willingness to abide by the judicial oath," McConnell said in prepared remarks for a Senate floor speech on Monday.
"If...Judge Sotomayor were to become a Supreme Court Justice, there would be no backstop. Her rulings would be final. She
Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) became the first Republican senator to announce he'd vote to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court -- and received a boost from no less than the White House.
"Judge Sotomayor is clearly qualified to serve on the Supreme Court and she has demonstrated a judicial temperament during her week-long nomination hearing," Lugar said in a statement posted on his website Friday. "I will vote to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor
Drawing the largest laugh of the week-long confirmation hearings, Judiciary Committee ranking Republican Jeff Sessions of Alabama momentarily tripped over his words Thursday afternoon and said he wanted to try crack cocaine.
In a brief exchange with Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Sessions said, "Senator Leahy and I are talking...We're going to do that crack cocaine thing that you and I have talked about before."
After a long round of laughter subsided, Sessions said with a grin, "Let me correct the record... We're going to reduce the burden of penalties in some of the crack cocaine cases and make them fair."
Former New York Yankees pitcher David Cone made an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday to endorse Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court, recalling the unique experience he had with her in the mid-1990s when he helped lead baseball's labor union.
Cone was an officer in the Major League Baseball Players Association in 1994, at a time Cone called the game's "darkest hours" because of labor acrimony between players and owners. The acrimony led to a
strike, and then the canceling of the 1994 World Series. When owners announced their intent to begin the 1995 season with replacement players, the union sued, and the case ended up before Sotomayor.
Sotomayor ruled for the players, barring the owners from using replacement players and determining that they had engaged in bad faith bargaining. Cone said it "saved baseball."
"Because of her decision, baseball is in far better shape today than it was 15 years ago," Cone told senators. "I believe all of us who love the game--players, owners and fans--are in her debt."
Former FBI Director Louis Freeh generously endorsed Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court on Thursday, saluting the nominee "wholeheartedly."
Freeh recalled how his history with Sotomayor dated back to 1992, as she was appointed to a U.S. district court judgeship for the Southern District of New York. Freeh also led the FBI in 1998 when it performed a background check on Sotomayor as she was up for a federal judgeship.
"Judge Sotomayor quickly distinguished herself as a highly competent judge who was open-minded, well-prepared, properly demanding of the lawyers who came before her, fair, honest, diligent in following the law, and with that rare and invaluable combination of legal intellect and street smarts," Freeh said. "I look forward to watching her take her place on the nation's highest court."
Shortly before the committee concluded its questioning of Sotomayor, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the panel's senior GOP member, told Sotomayor he would "look forward to you getting that vote" by the time the Senate takes its annual summer break, slated to begin Aug. 7.
Before the confirmation hearings started, Sessions advocated taking more time and not considering the nomination until September. Without suggesting he would support her nomination, Sessions retreated from that position today and acknowledged that Sotomayor had performed well in the hearings.
That's as good a sign as any that Sotomayor is doing well at her hearings...
Following up on a question to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor by ranking Republican Jeff Sessions on the Senate Judiciary Committee about her salary, Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn on Thursday said she may not have any salary at all.
A strict fiscal conservative, Coburn cited a number of what he called runaway spending trends under the Obama administration that have raised the country's deficit and debt.
"In about 10 to 15 years, we may not be able to pay your salary," Coburn told Sotomayor.
Sotomayor didn't reply, but the exchange prompted a sustained laugh from a reporter at a media table in the back of the room.
During a break in Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Arlen Specter told The Hill he is optimistic that the court will soon allow television
cameras inside at some point after Sotomayor joins the court.
Specter cited a C-SPAN survey that showed 61 percent of Americans support the idea of cameras inside the Supreme Court, and that very few members of the public are very knowledgeable about the court.
Specter cited strong opposition from Justice David Souter, whom Sotomayor has been nominated to replace. Since Souter won't be there to continue the fight, Specter said he believes Sotomayor could successfully persuade Chief Justice John Roberts and others. Sotomayor earlier in the week dodged a question about cameras in the Supreme Court, noting that she wouldn't want to upset her potential new colleagues.
"That will take away the major stumbling block," Specter said of Souter's opposition and retirement. "I don't think it's a matter of collegiality. They've all said they would want to consider it. And there really needs to be some public pressure building. It's been so demonstrated that there's a keen interest there."
Here's Specter asking Sotomayor about her experience with cameras in the courtroom, courtesy of C-SPAN:
Like Tuesday, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is providing some of the best exchanges in the week of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Unlike Tuesday, he now sounds like he supports the nominee.
Graham said Thursday morning that Sotomayor is "generally in the mainstream," and that he believes she can rule impartially. Yet Graham made clear that he remains bothered by the judge's speeches and
statements, which he said suggested an activist mentality.
"You have come a long way. You have worked very hard. You have earned the respect of Ken Starr. And you have said some things that bug the hell out of me," Graham said.
Sotomayor used the opportunity to disavow again--as she's done several times this week--a controversial remark in a 2001 speech that a "wise Latina woman" would have a superior judicial mindset than a
white man.
"I regret that I have offended some of you. I believe that my life demonstrates that that was not my intent to leave the impression that has been created by my words," Sotomayor told Graham.
"I believe you. Good luck," Graham said, ending his 20-minute round of questioning of Sotomayor on Thursday morning.
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