Senate Kicks Off Sotomayor Hearings

Republicans Will Focus on Race Controversies, But The Potential First Latina Justice Is Likely to Win Confirmation

(CBS/AP)  Sonia Sotomayor has decided advantages as she begins the most important trial of her long legal career, a nationally televised consideration of her nomination to be the first Hispanic and just the third woman on the Supreme Court.

Beginning Monday, she will tell her compelling up-from-poverty personal story to a jury tilted strongly in her favor - Democrats hold a comfortable majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee and a filibuster-resistant 60 votes in the Senate.

Still, Republicans signaled that they will press the 55-year-old New Yorker and veteran federal judge to explain past rulings involving discrimination complaints and gun rights, as well as comments that they say raise doubts about Sotomayor's ability to judge cases fairly.

The sharpest comments about her so far came Sunday from Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the senior Republican on the committee.

Sotomayor has said repeatedly in speeches over the past 10 years that personal experiences influence a judge's decisions, Sessions said.

"She has criticized the idea that a woman and a man would reach the same result. She expects them to reach different results. I think that's philosophically incompatible with the American system," Sessions said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Her defenders have portrayed her as a meticulous judge who has strictly followed the law in her 17 years on the federal bench.

"In truth, we do not have to speculate about what kind of a justice she will be because we have seen the kind of judge she has been," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the committee chairman, said in excerpts of his opening statement provided to The Associated Press. "She is a judge in which all Americans can have confidence. She has been a judge for all Americans and will be a justice for all Americans."

It boils down to this: Democrats will argue Sotomayor is among the most qualified judges ever nominated to the court and that the path she took from the Bronx, to Princeton and Yale and the Federal bench, make her the ideal nominee, reports CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews.

Republicans will argue the judge has explaining to do, focusing on her comments that a "wise Latina woman" might reach a better conclusion than a white male and question why she saw no discrimination against the white firefighters in New Haven - a ruling overturned by the Supreme Court.

But other legal experts say in the white firefighter case Sotomayor was following civil rights laws in effect at the time and that over her 17 year judicial career she was a mainstream judge with no record of bias.

"There are enough ideological conservative decisions, business decisions, pro-law enforcement decisions, so that you cannot pigeonhole her as someone who is always empathetic with the underdog," said CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen.

(Read Cohen's full preview of the confirmation hearings.)

The questioning of Sotomayor won't even begin until Tuesday, after the 12 Democrats and seven Republicans on the committee use up to 10 minutes each for preliminary remarks and the nominee makes her opening statement.

President Barack Obama chose Sotomayor in late May to take the place of Justice David Souter, who retired last month. The switch would not appreciably alter the balance of the power on the conservative-leaning court.

Obama called Sotomayor on Sunday to wish her luck at the hearings, compliment her for making courtesy calls to 89 senators and express his confidence that she would win Senate approval, the White House said.

In choosing Sotomayor, Obama also has put pressure on Republicans who might be forced to temper their opposition because of their need to increase their appeal to Hispanic voters, the fastest-growing segment of the electorate. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, highlighted the potential political pitfalls for Republicans when he noted on "Fox News Sunday" that a third of his constituents are Hispanic and that they want Sotomayor judged fairly.

The most fertile ground for Republican questioning appears to be on race and ethnicity, focusing on the "wise Latina" and firefighter controversies.

By a 5-4 vote last month, the justices agreed with the firefighters, who claimed they were denied promotion on account of their race after New Haven officials threw out test results because too few minorities did well. The court reversed a decision by Sotomayor and two other federal appeals court judges.

Republicans might use the wise Latina comment and the New Haven case "to imply that Sotomayor is a prisoner of identity politics," said David Garrow, a Cambridge University historian who follows the court.

"A lot of it is going to really depend not on particular answers but on how she comes across as a personality," Garrow said.

On that score, Schumer predicted that when the public gets its first long look at Sotomayor, "they're going to be wowed."

The subtext of the hearings has less to do with Sotomayor than with eventual other high court vacancies Obama might get to fill.

"A lot of it is about the future of the Supreme Court and future nominees," said Doug Kendall, president of the liberal Constitutional Accountability Center.

The GOP wants to "try to effectively state their vision for the Supreme Court and their concern with where President Obama's nominees could take the court," Kendall said.

Brian Fitzpatrick, a Vanderbilt University law professor who worked for Cornyn during the two most recent Supreme Court confirmation hearings, said, "Even if you can't defeat the nomination, perhaps you will get public opinion a little more behind the Republican party."

Gun rights activists and abortion opponents critical of Sotomayor also want senators to question her aggressively. They are joined by abortion-rights groups, also wary about Sotomayor's largely unknown views on abortion. "Failure to pursue such questions creates dangerous uncertainty regarding a constitutional right that has already been significantly weakened," said the Center for Reproductive Rights.

CBS News Poll: Most Undecided About Sotomayor

Editor's Note: On Monday, visit our CourtWatch blog to watch live video of the Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings, plus live running commentary from CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen via Twitter.

[hungry1968-16]

by DaVicar5 July 13, 2009 7:45 AM PDT

President Bush ain't batting no more - stop living in the past!






Translation: "Please ignore "conservatives" and their proven track record of failure, compounded by failure, on top of failure, with a side dish of failure, and instead oppose Sotomayor for no apparent reason other than she's a Latina."

Great argument you have there Vic.


BTW, why haven't you answered my questions from 7:32 and 7:38?

[indivthinker]

This has NOTHING to do with the fact that she is Latina. You liberals have been so brainwashed by the Democratic party and the NAACP to believe that any white person opposing any minority on ANYTHING MUST BE racism and the only reason for doing it is because of skin color.

Yet it is the LIBERALS that are racist. They can't see past the fact that the person is an American and a human being, as opposed to just being a minority. "Minorities are always the victims" or "Republicans are racist" (yet you should do a little research on a Democratic senator from West Virginia) is practically written in the Democratic platform.

Conservatives do NOT oppose her for skin color any more than they opposed Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Alberto Gonzales, Michael Steele, Bobby Jindal, etc for their skin colors. Conservatives, and MANY independents and moderates like myself, oppose this woman because she is a staunch supporter in affirmative action. This woman denied promotions to white people because no black people were getting them (since they all failed the test). She is biased towards minorities on EVERYTHING because of their skin colors, rather than basing her judgment on merit and credentials.

Affirmative action has outlived its use. It gives an UNFAIR advantage to minorities just for their skin color. That is reverse racism, or it could technically be just racism. I myself have witnessed it so much in my life. I have some white friends that applied to medical school that had 29s and 30s on their MCAT (which are good, above average scores, or about the top third of test takers) and they were denied entrance to a med school, yet I know of minorities--some even at the school I am at--that got in AT MULTIPLE SCHOOLS with 24s and 25s (which are not good scores at all, and they are BELOW average). Schools are required by law to accept a certain level of minority groups that are "underrepresented" in the medical field. This program was originally intended to help minorities who could not afford medical school, but now it gives advantages to minorities who have less academic merit than certain whites. These are the kind of programs that Sotomayor supports.

Support Sotomayor if you like, but I will not support her racism. I am sick of fellow AMERICANS (whites and minorities) that work their butts off and do things the proper way getting screwed over mediocrity from minorities. This has NOTHING to do with skin color.

I find it amazing that conservatives and Republicans are racist when they turn away someone at a school or job based on merit or other qualifications, but when a liberal or Democrat turns away someone (like those firefighters who passed the exams) because of their skin color, it is not racism.

And I also cannot understand how whites cannot use racism to get ahead, but minorities can (see Burris and Sotomayor, because they think that they are more deserving and qualified just because they are black or Latina). Perhaps a liberal can answer some questions for me. Why can blacks calls themselves (and whites for that matter too) all sorts of racist and derogatory terms, but when a white person opens up, it is racism? Why do liberals call Republicans racist because they oppose ILLEGAL immigration and affirmative action/reverse discrimination? Why do liberals AUTOMATICALLY assume that a Republican must be racist just because opposes a minority on ANYTHING? Why should minorities get advantages in the educational system or job sector over a more qualified white person just because they are a minority? Why is it that I rarely ever see a business without a minority, but I see a lot of businesses without whites? Why is it that whenever a white person attacks a minority, it MUST be a hate crime, but whenever a minority attacks a white person, it isn't? Why can black people still use the excuse of slavery to get ahead in this world, even though slavery happened six generations ago? Why is it that 96% of record numbers of blacks voted for Barack Obama, but they aren't racist?

Any answer to any one of these questions would be helpful. There is obviously so MUCH that the Democrats can enlighten the rest of us "racists" on.

[hungry1968-16]

by DaVicar5 July 13, 2009 7:41 AM PDT
"Obama picked Sotomayor based on her lengthy record of being a judge"

That's simply NOT TRUE.






Name ONE Supreme Court nominee, that's had MORE EXPERIENCE than Sotomayor has, at the time of their nomination.

[hungry1968-16]

by DaVicar5 July 13, 2009 7:27 AM PDT
"Obama has made a great choice"
- One every six months? That's a pretty low batting average!







Bush made NO GOOD CHOICES, about ANYTHING, in 8 years.

What's his "batting average" according to you?

[DaVicar5]

"Bush made NO GOOD CHOICES, about ANYTHING, in 8 years. What's his "batting average" according to you?"


President Bush ain't batting no more - stop living in the past!

[hungry1968-16]

by DaVicar5 July 13, 2009 7:18 AM PDT
There's something very Un-Martin Luther Kingish about nominating someone for the Supreme Court based on her race.






Obama picked Sotomayor based on her lengthy record of being a judge.

Perhaps you can tell us why Bush picked Harriet Meiers, even though she was NEVER a judge, and hadn't been in a courtroom in over 19 years at the time she was nominated.

It couldn't be because she was a white, over 50, conservative christian, was it?

[DaVicar5]

"Obama picked Sotomayor based on her lengthy record of being a judge"

That's simply NOT TRUE.

[South-of-Heaven]

Say hello to your next Supreme Court Justice,
you inbred Southern hicks.

[DaVicar5]

Most in-bred Southern Hicks care more about the Jispanics in the Food Court, rather than the Supreme Court!

[hungry1968-16]

by DaVicar5 July 13, 2009 7:20 AM PDT
by glidescube "Conserevative people are so scared crapless that they are losing their power"

No, we are more scared that we are losing our rights and liberties!
I wonder why the same doesn't bother the libs?







Which rights and liberties are you losing?

[GovernmentControl]

Sotomayor is a hardened unrepentant racist, just like obama who nominated her.

[impeachbhb]

Obama has made a great choice. She will be real asset as he moves us toward a pure socialist government. She definitely feels that government and the courts need to dictate the way people live their lives. That is the beauty of socialism. The government looks after everybody by taking money from the upper income people and giving it to us.

[DaVicar5]

"Obama has made a great choice"
- One every six months? That's a pretty low batting average!

[DaVicar5]

There's something very Un-Martin Luther Kingish about nominating someone for the Supreme Court based on her race.

[npkppprc]

Right, put her on the panel because she is hispanic not because she is qualified. She has racist views and we should all ignore that along with several other issues. She is the model for impartiality.
B.S.

[gravyboat4000]

She's been a Federal Judge for 17 years.

So...please explain how she's not qualified?

Appointed by two Presidents to her previous courts, one Republican, one Democrat...

You mental midgets who keep repeating the RushPublican talking points are REALLY makin arses of yourselves. Thanks for the laughs!

[South-of-Heaven]

Say Hello to the next supreme court justice..

[Joe_NY_15]

Should say - Say hello to the new Liberal Activist Who Legislates from the Bench.....just great, that's what this republic needs, more undermining of our constitution from another activist.

[DaVicar5]

I think the word is "Hola".

[mars7578]

The republican opposition is so weak and this is just part of their attempt to run a yearround political campaign.This is so sad because ,they are making a mockery of the democratic process. They refuse to accept the minority position the voters have chosen to put them in.This childish reaction to being dethroned is only alienating more independents .Democracy is designed to work with different ideas and positions ,but these losers ,have chosen to abandon the democratic process and focused their efforts on showing the American people you should have voted for us. Just like they didnt work to avoid the crisis, they refuse to help get out the crisis.

[beaumuff]

Did Obama ever get back to the USA or is he and his family still on vaction?

[cs4466]

She will be confirmed. And there will be much neocon wailing and gnashing of teeth. But it won't change anything.

Next!

[jodyrae4]

she will get in..if she doesn't she will just claim racism

[wtcmedic911]

hope the judge at least gets a much better hair style. looks like a wet irish setter.

[DaVicar5]

So, now we're picking on the Irish?

[xl500]

I hope if she is aproved she makes better decisions than in the past. So far im not impressed and i would feel better with somebody else in that powerful position.

[skyk-2009]

Well these things happen when you produce the WORST Government in our History. YOU and YOUR views get VOTED out of office, leaving you on the sidelines whining, like you are doing now.

[DaVicar5]

by xl500 "I hope if she is aproved she makes better decisions than in the past"


We've had SIX MONTHS of hoping that people we elected would make better decisions than they have in the past - and it AIN'T WORKING!!!