Sotomayor Hearing July 13: Sessions Argues for More Time

Judge Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings on her appointment to the Supreme Court are scheduled to begin July 13th, much sooner than Republicans are comfortable with.

Supreme Court of the United States

In the video below, Senator Jeff Sessions lays out how President Bush's nominees, Justices Roberts and Alito were handled - and it wasn't with any haste, even though the Supreme Court seats need to be filled, and even though Justice Roberts had a much shorter paper trail to examine. Paraphrasing Sessions: Sotomayor has a record of more than 4,000 cases, many speeches and law review articles, which need to be analyzed before confirming a judge for a lifetime appointment. Judge Roberts confirmation hearings took 55 days to begin from the day of his nomination. For Justice Alito, 70 days passed. Sotomayor is being ramped-up to 48 days if the date of July 13th holds over Republican objections. Senator Patrick Leahy see no difference in the 55 days for Roberts and the 48 days for Sotomayor, even though there are countless documents to read in the Sotomayor case. Leahy reasons it this way:

There is no reason to unduly delay consideration of this well-qualified nominee,” Leahy said. “Indeed, given the attacks on her character, there are compelling reasons to proceed even ahead of this schedule. She deserves the earliest opportunity to respond to those attacks.

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) has another viewpoint:

I’m not sure we’ll be ready,” said Coburn, who sits on the Judiciary Committee. “If I’m ready to attend, I will attend. If I’m not, I won’t.” Asked if he’d skip the hearing if he felt rushed, Coburn said: “I’m certainly not going to ask questions if I’m not prepared.

By virtue of Sonia Sotomayor's own words, she is under the suspicion of holding racist views (racism about Whites), and that what Leahy refers to as "attacks on her character." Why there would only be a "suspicion" about her racist viewpoint, when it's as clear as daylight, is ridiculous. She has even tried to backpedal, and the White House has attempted to do the same, and say that she would couch her words differently today if she had the opportunity. Then there was the first excuse that she "misspoke." She didn't misspeak and she wouldn't do it diffrently unless she had to, and we know this because she repeated the remark some seven times in her career that we know of.

I would hope 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

What? Is the white male chopped liver? To Sotomayor, her "female, wise Latina soul" is weightier than a Caucausian "American male soul," and probably the same for an American female soul. This woman should not be on the Supreme Court. By the way, she also believes felons should have the right to vote. Senator Jeff Sessions

Tracked by: Supreme Court Nominee Not So Nimble, Fractures Ankle Excerpt: Read more about this nominee and her upcoming maiden hearing in front of congress at Maggie's Notebook by clicking here.Weblog: Chicago Ray's News Views Tracked: 06.10.09 - 1:18 am