Judge Sotomayer

I was concerned about her nomination and my Senator's vote on her but not now after reading his statement regarding her qualification. I hope he votes the right way.

SOTOMAYOR OPENING STATEMENT
Monday, July 13, 2009

SESSIONS’ OPENING STATEMENT AT JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR’S SUPREME COURT CONFIRMATION HEARING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivered his opening statement today at the confirmation hearing for Judge Sonia Sotomayor. The remarks, as prepared, follow:

Before I begin, I want to thank Chairman Leahy for his openness and willingness to work together on the procedures for this hearing.

I hope it will be viewed as the best hearing this Committee has ever held.

Judge Sotomayor, I join Chairman Leahy in welcoming you here today.

This hearing marks an important milestone in your distinguished legal career. I know your family is proud, and rightfully so. It is a pleasure to have them with us today.

I expect this hearing and resulting debate to be characterized by a respectful tone, a discussion of serious issues, and a thoughtful dialogue, and I have worked hard to achieve that from day one.

I have been an active litigator in federal courts for the majority of my professional life. I have tried cases in private practice, as a federal prosecutor with the Department of Justice, and as Attorney General of the State of Alabama.

The Constitution and our great heritage of law are things I care deeply about—they are the foundation of our liberty and prosperity.

This nomination hearing is critically important for two reasons.

First, Justices on the Supreme Court have great responsibility, hold enormous power, and have a lifetime appointment.

Just five members can declare the meaning of our Constitution, bending or changing its meaning from what the people intended.

Second, this hearing is important because I believe our legal system is at a dangerous crossroads.

Down one path is the traditional American legal system, so admired around the world, where judges impartially apply the law to the facts without regard to their own personal views.

This is the compassionate system because this is the fair system.

In the American legal system, courts do not make the law or set policy, because allowing unelected officials to make laws would strike at the heart of our democracy.

Here, judges take an oath to administer justice impartially, which reads:

“I . . . do solemnly swear that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me . . . under the Constitution and laws of the United States. So help me God.4]

Judges have—contrary to the longstanding rules of war—created a right for terrorists, captured on a foreign battlefield, to sue the United States government in our own courts.[5]

Judges have cited foreign laws, world opinion, and a United Nations resolution to determine that a state death penalty law was unconstitutional.[6]

I’m afraid our system will only be further corrupted as a result of President Obama’s views that, in tough cases, the critical ingredient for a judge is the “depth and breadth of one's empathy,9]

And during a speech 15 years ago, Judge Sotomayor said, “I willingly accept that we who judge must not deny the differences resulting from experience and heritage but attempt . . . continuously to judge when those opinions, sympathies, and prejudices are appropriate.13]

It seems to me that in Ricci, Judge Sotomayor’s empathy for one group of firefighters turned out to be prejudice against the others.

That is, of course, the logical flaw in the “empathy standard.” Empathy for one party is always prejudice against another.

Judge Sotomayor, we will inquire into how your philosophy, which allows subjectivity into the courtroom, affects your rulings on issues like:

• Abortion, where an organization in which you were an active leader argued that the Constitution requires that taxpayer money be used for abortions;

• Gun control, where you recently ruled that it is “settled law” that the Second Amendment does not prevent a city or state from barring gun ownership;

• Private property, where you have already ruled that the government could take property from one pharmacy developer and give it to another; and

• Capital punishment, where you personally signed a statement opposing the reinstatement of the death penalty because of the “inhuman[e] psychological burden” it places on the offender and his or her family.

I hope the American people will follow these hearings closely.

They should learn about the issues, and listen to both sides of the argument. And, at the end of the hearing, ask: ‘If I must one day go to court, what kind of judge do I want to hear my case?

‘Do I want a judge that allows his or her social, political, or religious views to change the outcome?

‘Or, do I want a judge that impartially applies the law to the facts, and fairly rules on the merits, without bias or prejudice?’

It is our job to determine on which side of that fundamental divide the nominee stands.