I’m afraid to report there wasn’t much in Supreme Court news this week. For the most part the process of Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination is on cruise control.
On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favor of Sotomayor’s nomination. The vote was 13-6. All Democrats voted in favor along with one Republican. This outcome was fully expected. The full vote before the Senate will likely take place sometime next week.
Really the only other news this week was that Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Republican from Tennessee, has announced that he will vote for confirmation. Mr. Alexander is not generally known a the type of Republican who is overly eager to compromise, unlike most of the Republicans who have also announced their approval of Sotomayor. Mr. Lamer said that his decision was primarily a rejection of the partisan nature of judicial confirmations that have appeared in the past few years. In his statement on the matter Mr. Lamar said:
“In 2005, I said on this Senate floor that it was wrong for then-Senator Obama and half the Democratic Senators to vote against John Roberts – a superbly qualified nominee – solely because they disagreed with what Senator Obama described as Roberts’ “overarching political philosophy” and “his work in the White House and the Solicitor General’s office” that “consistently sided” with “the strong in opposition to the weak.” Today, it would be equally wrong for me to vote against Judge Sotomayor solely because she is not “on my side” on some issues.
“Courts were never intended to be political bodies composed of judges “on your side” who would reliably tilt your way in controversial cases. Courts are supposed to do just the opposite: decide difficult cases with impartiality. The oath Judge Sotomayor has twice taken and will take again when she is sworn in as Associate Justice says it best: “… I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and … I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me … under the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
The last Democratic nominations easily went through without strong Democratic majorities in the Senate. Clinton appointees Ruth Barer Ginsburg was approved 96-3, and Stephen Breyer was confirmed 87-9. In the past most nominees, including many Republican nominees, also had easy confirmations. Of Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, and Stevens there were a total of nine dissenting votes. But fast forward to the Roberts confirmation, the vote was 78-22, and for Alito the vote was 58-42. The idealist in me appreciates Mr. Larmar’s statement, but the pragmatist in me thinks that actions of Democrats in the past two nominations, have likely changed the nature of judicial appointments for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, these issues are more complicated than they used to be. It is a pity that all judges and Senators can’t mirror Mr. Lamar’s sentiments at all times. I dearly hope that future associate Justice Sotomayor takes what the Senator said to heart.