Battle Lines Form Over High Court Pick

Top Republican Says Filibuster Is Unlikely As Senate Begins Scrutiny Of Sonia Sotomayor's Judicial Record

(CBS/AP)  After making history by nominating the first Hispanic justice for the Supreme Court, President Obama is pressing the Senate to quickly confirm his choice of federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor for the country's most powerful tribunal.

Republicans face an uphill battle in defeating the New York-born daughter of Puerto Rican parents, but they are promising a thorough and perhaps lengthy hearing process that scrutinizes her record and judicial philosophy.

The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee said Wednesday he doesn't foresee a filibuster against Sonia Sotomayor, even though he thinks her legal philosophy should be closely examined.

"The nominee has serious problems," Sen. Jeff Sessions said in a nationally broadcast interview. "But I would think that we would all have a good hearing, take our time, and do it right. And then the senators cast their vote up or down based on whether or not they think this is the kind of judge that should be on the court."

"I don't sense a filibuster in the works," the Alabama Republican said. (Read more on the GOP reaction today.)

Democrats hold 59 votes in the Senate, more than enough to confirm Sotomayor but not quite enough to stop a vote-blocking filibuster if Republicans should attempt one. Still, seven Republican senators currently serving backed Sotomayor's 1998 nomination to the appeals court covering New York, Vermont and Connecticut, and she was first nominated to be a federal judge by Republican President George H.W. Bush.

Sessions was among several Republicans who opposed her when she came before the Senate as a nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1998. On Tuesday, he said: "We ought to look at her record fresh."

Sotomayor's nomination now goes to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will hold a confirmation hearing at which senators can question the nominee.

Any Republican effort to block Sotomayor's confirmation could be risky for a party still reeling from last year's elections and struggling to gain back lost ground with Hispanics, the fastest-growing part of the population and one that is increasingly active politically.

"They oppose her at their peril," Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said of Republicans.

Sotomayor, 54, whose nomination was announced by Mr. Obama on Tuesday, would join Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the court and just the third in its history. She would replace liberal Justice David Souter, thereby maintaining the court's ideological divide. A number of important cases have been decided by 5-4 majorities, with conservative- and liberal-leaning justices split 4-4 and moderate Republican appointee Justice Anthony Kennedy providing the decisive vote.

The White House says it started the selection process by examining the records and writings of 40 prospective nominees but made direct contact with only nine of them. The officials portrayed Mr. Obama's outreach as unprecedented, saying he consulted with each and every member of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the selection process.

Sotomayor is for abortion rights, but there's little or nothing in her record on same-sex marriage, church-state separation or the death penalty, reports CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante.

Supreme Court justices receive lifetime appointments and can have a profound influence on Americans' daily life. Sotomayor would be a new voice on the cases that often reflect divisions in the broader society, including national security, abortion, gay rights and privacy.

As CBSNews.com's Declan McCullagh writes, pro-life groups have already tabbed Sotomayor a "hard left judicial activist" who would "impose her personal policy and beliefs onto others from the bench."

Sotomayor's personal story, academic and legal credentials earn her respect from all quarters, but conservatives see plenty to criticize in her rulings and past statements. They describe her as a judicial activist who would put her feelings above the Constitution.

The top Senate Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said: "We will thoroughly examine her record to ensure she understands that the role of a jurist in our democracy is to apply the law evenhandedly, despite their own feelings or personal or political preferences."

Sotomayor has said that personal experiences "affect the facts that judges choose to see."

"I simply do not know exactly what the difference will be in my judging," she said in a speech in 2001. "But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage."

Mr. Obama, eager to begin putting his imprint on the court, challenged the Senate to move swiftly and confirm Sotomayor before Congress' August break. The court begins its new term in October.

Mr. Obama, who made history as America's first black president, beamed Tuesday as he introduced Sotomayor. He described her as a judge who displays both an impressive mind and heart, and who takes on cases with "an understanding of how the world works and how ordinary people live."

The White House and its allies, including Hispanic groups with broad reach into communities throughout the country, are readying a major push to persuade more GOP senators to back her confirmation.

A coalition of liberal groups calling itself the Center for Constitutional Rights launched a television ad Wednesday touting Sotomayor as principled, fair-minded and independent. The ad, which will air on broadcast and cable networks, overlays Obama's voice with pictures of Sotomayor, and is intended to frame public perceptions of the judge.

"It's important that they understand her fair-minded approach to the law, which is grounded both in her eminent legal qualifications and her life experiences," said Wade Henderson, a co-chair of the group. (Read more about the ad and watch it here.)

Hispanic leaders saw her nomination as significant.

"We want people to realize that this is kind of like voting for president," said Estuardo Rodriguez, a spokesman for Hispanics for a Fair Judiciary, which is leading a coalition of organizations that plans to push for the judge's speedy confirmation. "You can actually call your senator and say, 'I want this. I want you to vote for Sonia Sotomayor.'"

Janet Murguia, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza, a leading Hispanic advocacy group, called Sotomayor's nomination "a monumental day for Latinos. Finally, we see ourselves represented on the highest court in the land."

She said Mr. Obama's choice recognized "that excellence and diversity are not mutually exclusive."

Sotomayor has spoken about her pride in her ethnic background and has said that personal experiences "affect the facts that judges choose to see."

"I simply do not know exactly what the difference will be in my judging," she said in a speech in 2001. "But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage."

[ladypirate2]

gravyboat69: Rush Limbaugh is not leading us republicans around by the nose any more than Barack Obama is leading you and you don't even know it! You democrats think that whatever Obama does is just fine! You can't see what is right before your face!

[gravyboat69]

I hope the republicans don't rush through their grilling process of her! They should take their time no matter who tries to rush them! They should ask the questions that they need to ask and if she doesn't answer them correctly or if they don't like her answers then they should block her nomination! Obama shouldn't get his way about everything. The republicans might be the minority now in both the senate and the house but they still have some authority. They can't be just run over. They still have the ability to throw up some roadblocks and even stop supreme court nominations that they don't think would be for the good of the country. I hope they use the authority and abilities that they still have and don't let anyone rush them about this.
Posted by ladypirate2

Like W got his own way?

And nobody's gonna rush your precious Republican Senators. They ALL have time limits.

Wait, somone will rush them. Rush will, when she gets confirmed, he'll bum Rush them, and complain that they didn't do enough.

You REPIGS call Obama,"the one", Rush is the Repulican one. lmao

He's leading you people around by the nose. Pathetic, and quite entertaining.

[ladypirate2]

I hope the republicans don't rush through their grilling process of her! They should take their time no matter who tries to rush them! They should ask the questions that they need to ask and if she doesn't answer them correctly or if they don't like her answers then they should block her nomination! Obama shouldn't get his way about everything. The republicans might be the minority now in both the senate and the house but they still have some authority. They can't be just run over. They still have the ability to throw up some roadblocks and even stop supreme court nominations that they don't think would be for the good of the country. I hope they use the authority and abilities that they still have and don't let anyone rush them about this.

[babooph]

We need a liberal & conservative party to compete with the repulicrats & real news instead of the centrally controlled propaganda system.

[orsands]

Ah, Limpbaugh...daddy raised you to think you were one entitled boy. You were always told that men of your breeding and intellect were going to be the ones serving on the Supreme Court ....certainly not a hispanic woman who isn't even from an important or prominent family. Yes, it is easy to see how you would define Sotomayor as a racist. First of all she is a woman, and secondly she is a proud Latina. The audacity of her to think that as a result of being born into poverty to rising to one of the greatest legal postions in the land-that perhaps she might be bringing with her a wider and richer background and history than those who come with a very limited life experience.
Such as those who were born with silver spoons in their mouths and who have never known what it is like to really face true hardship or struggles in life. Someone like you.

[noloyalisti]

The conservatives and Republi CONS don't get an opinion. They are a failure and were wrong about everything. Suck it up.

[dbaecht]

What i find funny is, the republicans and right wingers all talk about how bad, liberals are. I have news for them if it wasn't for a bunch of liberal thinking founding fathers, we would still be a english colony.
The Constititution, Declaration of Independance and the Bill of Rights arer about as liberal a set of documents as you will fins anywhere. Think about it, "For the people, of the people, by the people" liberal concept, "all men are created equal" liberal concept", freedom of religion", liberal, you get the idea.

[rednomo]

Being called a racist by Rush Limbaugh is like being called ugly by a Bullfrog.

[starleo146]

Democrats hold 59 votes in the Senate, more than enough to confirm Sotomayor but not quite enough to stop a vote-blocking filibuster if Republicans should attempt one. Still, seven Republican senators currently serving backed Sotomayor's 1998 nomination to the appeals court covering New York, Vermont and Connecticut, and she was first nominated to be a federal judge by Republican President George H.W. Bush.

Maybe Franken will have a seat in the senate before this confirmation is done that would be something the final nail in the coffin, but all dems probably will not vote to confirm . You know her leanings are more toward the republicans that is why she was nominated by daddy bush so even though a democratic President nominated her she could rule alongside Roberts and Alito and Scalia and Thomas, wouldn't that be a rub. She is a catholic and probably against abortion. Hey what are the republicans screaming for

[chitown639]

Rush is ACTING like he's something but believe me...the republicans keep him at bay. They know he's a political liability. They are not stupid. Only the ultra neos like him.
Posted by stuart2561

Yeah, their busy keep him at bay when they aren't on their knees begging for forgiveness for ever crossing the fat blowhard.....Micheal Steele is lucky Rush didn't fire him....LMAO!!