Normal
0
false
false
false
EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE
MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
This past week there were few developments in the Supreme
Court nomination process. The hearings
are still set for July 13th, and some Republicans are still
requesting that Sotomayor release more information. However, there were a few minor developments
since last week.
Perhaps the most important event of the last week for the
confirmation process was that Ms. Sotomayor gave supplemental information to
the Senate. Ms. Sotomayor had earlier
submitted a lengthy questionnaire as part of a process all nominees to federal
judgeships must undergo. Some thought
that the reportedly three hundred page long response didn’t contain enough information. In response, Sotomayor sent the supplement this
week.
In the supplement she spoke about her membership to an all women's group. According to the Judicial
Code of Conduct, Judges should not belong to any organization that restricts
membership on the basis sex, race, religion or nationality. That being the case, the fact that Sotomayor
is a member of an organization called Belizean Grove which claims 115 members
all of whom are women, has raised some eyebrows. Sotomayor has claimed that no men have ever
asked to join. Either which way, other
judges, including Sandra Day O’Connor, have dodged similar complaints in the
past.
Also in the supplement: One of the new speeches provided by
Sotomayor, could signal her support for Affirmative Action. In speech given in the early 1990s, Sotomayor
described herself as a “product of Affirmative Action,” as well as strongly
implying that she would have not been as successful had it not been for these
programs. Given such statements, it
would seem unlikely that she would be a part of the Supreme Court’s current
trend of rejecting or restricting such programs. This fact of course should come as no surprise
when considering her stance on the recent Ricci case, which could have
implications to Affirmative Action programs.
Other speeches were released in her supplement, but
generally they seem to only echo the same sort of information that has already come
to light.
More updates to come.
.