Law and Courts

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a member of the Judiciary Committee that will consider Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, said Thursday that he sensed passion for charitable legal work in the nominee after meeting her.

Cardin said Sotomayor gave very strong views on the need for pro bono legal work for the poor, for example, as well as programs that encourage law students to offer clinical services to lower-income
citizens.

"Her answers were passionate, which was good to see," Cardin said. "I saw real evidence of leadership."
Cardin said he is withholding judgment on Sotomayor, out of respect for the confirmation process. "But everything I've seen today was impressive," he said.

--J. Taylor Rushing

This just in from the White House:

Today, at 2:00PM EDT, the White House will deliver Judge Sonia Sotomayor's questionnaire to the Senate Judiciary Committee--just 9 days after being nominated to the Supreme Court. For context, this is the swiftest questionnaire completion in recent history. Based on the time between a nominee's designation and when they returned their questionnaire, it took Chief Justice Roberts 13 days, Justice Ginsburg 15 days and Justice Alito 30 days to complete their questionnaires.

The questionnaire covers basic information about Sotomayor's background, education, professional memberships, pro bono work, publications, etc. Here's a PDF version.

The speedy completion of the questionnaire is part of a push by the White House to move Sotomayor's nomination through the Senate as quickly as possible. The W.H. wants confirmation hearings in July, before the August recess. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, has suggested September.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said today that Sonia Sotomayor might have a "character problem," adding that if he applied the same standard to her that Obama had applied to Sam Alito, he would vote against her.

"There's a character problem," Graham told reporters after meeting Sotomayor, adding that he needed to determine that "her temperament problem is...not who she is."

Graham cited comments by lawyers who had appeared before Sotomayor in court as evidence that she might not be fit to be a justice. He is likely referring to comments in the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary, which Jeffrey Rosen cited in The New Republic recently:

Sotomayor can be tough on lawyers, according to those interviewed. "She is a terror on the bench." "She is very outspoken." "She can be difficult." "She is temperamental and excitable. She seems angry." "She is overly aggressive--not very judicial. She does not have a very good temperament." "She abuses lawyers." "She really lacks judicial temperament. She behaves in an out of control manner. She makes inappropriate outbursts." "She is nasty to lawyers. She doesn't understand their role in the system--as adversaries who have to argue one side or the other. She will attack lawyers for making an argument she does not like."

Graham said he needed to determine whether those comments were representative of Sotomayor's demeanor or just a "small slice of the pie."

"I just don't like bully judges," said Graham, a former attorney.

Graham also used his remarks to blast President Obama's vote against Sam Alito's confirmation in 2005. The South Carolina Republican said that if he used the standard Obama used to judge Alito, then he would not be able to support Sotomayor.

Obama said during Alito's confirmation process that Senators should engage in an "examination of a judge's philosophy, ideology, and record."

Graham said if he were judging Sotomayor's ideology, he would certainly vote against her.

"He used a standard that would make it impossible, I think, for a person of the opposite party to be able to confirm a nominee of someone of the other party," Graham lamented.

A day ahead of his meeting with Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) said Wednesday he is approaching the nomination with an open mind but tough questions.

Cornyn said he plans to press for answers on Sotomayor's record and judicial philosophy, zeroing in particularly on the judge's controversial 2001 remark on the judicial fitness of Latinas over white men. President Barack Obama has said Sotomayor "misspoke," and Cornyn said he wants a fuller explanation.

Cornyn said he is most concerned that the 2001 speech was not an isolated example of judicial activism, when viewed alongside Sotomayor's other writings and rulings.

"There's a lot of questions to ask," Cornyn said. "When the president said she misspoke--how did he learn that? Did he learn it from her? Or is it just White House spin? But I've got an open mind, and I'm interested in meeting her and learning more about her record and her attitude toward the job of a Supreme Court justice."

--J. Taylor Rushing

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, said he's glad that Newt Gingrich has retracted his charge that Sonia Sotomayor is a racist.

"I'm very glad he backed off," Sessions told CNN's Dana Bash. "I think that's unusual, that commentators do that, and I think it was very good that he did. I think that will help--help us. I think that will help us have a real good discussion about the serious issues that the nation faces and that the court faces."

Gingrich had previously called Sotomayor a racist, but retracted and semi-apologized for that claim earlier today.

The retractions come as some Republicans are worrying that over-the-top charges against Sotomayor could alienate Hispanic voters.

Sessions had previously said that the racism charges "would not be words that I would use," but had refused to criticize Gingrich (or Rush Limbaugh, who made a similar charge).

Newt Gingrich says he was wrong to call Sonia Sotomayor a "racist" last week.

The former House speaker had blasted Sotomayor for suggesting that a "wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

"My initial reaction was strong and direct--perhaps too strong and too direct," Gingrich wrote today in his Human Events column.

Gingrich added: "The word 'racist' should not have been applied to Judge Sotomayor as a person, even if her words themselves are unacceptable (a fact which both President Obama and his Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, have since admitted)."

Here are Gingrich's original comments:

"Imagine [if] a judicial nominee said 'my experience as a white man makes me better than a latina [sic] woman' new racism is no better than old racism," Gingrich wrote on his Twitter feed.

Moments later he wrote: "White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw

Gingrich's semi-apology seems to be an indication that the GOP is becomingly increasingly uncomfortable with the heated rhetoric directed against Sotomayor. Few prominent Republicans have publicly called Sotomayor a racist, but the charges have become fodder for cable news and blogs, raising worries that Republicans might alienate Hispanic voters at a time when they can least afford to do so.

Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) on Tuesday cast doubt on claims that GOP senators held up Sonia Sotomayor's July 1998 vote for a circuit judgeship out of opposition to her potential nomination to the Supreme Court, but said he could not recall specifics.

Lott, who said he was "just passing through" the Senate, said he was unfairly accused of delaying Sotomayor's vote for political reasons, although he acknowledged he was "probably" directly involved in the situation.

Sotomayor's 1998 vote was blocked for seven months because of an anonymous hold, and The New York Times reported at the time that Republicans were trying to send a message to then-President Bill Clinton that she should not be put on a fast track for the high court.

She was eventually approved for her circuit judgeship on a 67-28 vote.

"They said I held her up, and the argument was that we were concerned they would try to move her quickly through to the Supreme Court, and we delayed her for months because of that," Lott said. "I don't remember that. It may have been, but it doesn't sound likely. I was probably holding her up at the request of somebody else, but I don't remember the circumstances."

When asked if he would support her candidacy if he were still in the Senate, Lott recalled that he opposed her for the circuit judgeship in 1998.

"But I don't know. It depends on her record," he said. "It depends on the body of her record since then, and how she handles herself."

-J. Taylor Rushing

Seizing on a Republican criterion for judicial nominees, Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) praised Sonia Sotomayor's judicial restraint today after meeting with nominee.

"I appreciate that she has shown restraint as a judge," Leahy said in a statement. "We do not need another Supreme Court Justice intent on second guessing Congress, undercutting laws passed to benefit Americans and to protect their liberties, and making light of judicial precedent."

Responding to claims by some conservatives that Sotomayor is a racist, Leahy retorted that "nothing could be further from the truth."

"These are some of the same people who vilify Justice Souter and Justice O'Connor," Leahy said. "Americans deserve better. I hope all Senators will join and work with me to fulfill our constitutional duties with respect."

The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Leahy called for prompt hearings, saying that any delay would unfairly prevent her from responding to her critics. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking member of the committee, has called for September hearings. The White House prefers July.

Sonia Sotomayor was "a delight," Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said today after meeting the SCOTUS nominee.

"I was very impressed with her knowledge, her experience, her energy level," Sessions said as he emerged from the meeting. "It was a delight to talk with her."

Sotomayor has been on the Hill today meeting with key Senators. Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) told reporters that Sotomayor assured him that she would follow the law as a justice.

Watch video of Sessions remarks at The Page.

Sessions added that he thinks confirmation hearings should be held in September, while the White House is pushing for July.

Sonia Sotomayor will introduce herself to the Senators voting on her confirmation this week in a round of Capitol Hill visits. One of the first: Sen. Pat Leahy (R-Vt.), the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

According to Leahy's office, the Vermont Democrat will meet with Sotomayor tomorrow at 11:30am. The two are expected to talk for about half an hour. Leahy, who has been publicly supportive of Sotomayor's nomination, will make a brief comment at noon.