Today in Washington D. C. - June 29, 2009 - Concern Expressed About Nominee Sotomayor

Senate is in recess until Monday, July 6. When the Senate returns, it will resume consideration of the fiscal year 2010 Legislative Branch appropriations bill, H.R. 2918. Also likely to have floor action when the Senate returns is the fiscal year 2010 Homeland Security appropriations bill.

On July 13, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to begin hearings on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. With the Supreme Court reversing Judge Sonia Sotomayor in its ruling on the Ricci case today, it’s ever more important for the Senate to take the time to thoroughly review her record, and not rush into a confirmation, despite Democrats’ hurry.

On Friday, ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Jeff Sessions wrote a letter to the White House asking for more details of Sotomayor’s time at the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund. According to the The New York Times, “Mr. Sessions said he also wanted information about an effort, possibly by White House officials, to search through boxes of material at the nonprofit group’s office, where some 300 boxes are kept in archives.”

Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell noted the issue of the PRLDF boxes, saying, “[J]ust a day or so ago, we discovered that there are 300 boxes of additional material that has just been discovered from her time working with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund. The committee needs to have access to that material and time to work through it so we know all the facts before we vote on a person who's up for a lifetime job.”

Speaking on the Senate floor last week, Sen. McConnell raised his concerns about Sotomayor’s handling of the Ricci case in light of President Obama’s “so-called empathy standard.” Sen. McConnell said, “Now, I don’t believe a judge should rule based on empathy, personal preferences or political beliefs. But if any case cried out for empathy, it would be this one. . . . But despite his hard work and high performance, the City deprived [firefighter Frank Ricci] of the promotion he earned.” So, Sen. McConnell asked, “Is this what the President means by ‘empathy’— where he says he wants judges to empathize with certain groups, but implicitly, not with others? If so, what if you’re not in one of those groups? What if you’re Frank Ricci?”

There is much in Judge Sotomayor’s record that deserves examination, including her ruling in the Ricci case which was reversed today by the Supreme Court and the documents pertaining to her work at the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund. Also, we need to review all of her prior decisions. With today's Supreme court's decision, 4 out of 6 of her decisions that have been appealed have been overturned by the Supreme Court. And for the two decisions upheld, one the Supreme Court rejected the reasoning for as erroneous. Would you hire a layer who's actions were ruled against 66% of the time? We would expect an Appellate Judge to either have a better record or to be under review for questionable judgement. Again - 66% of her appealed decisions have been overturned.

Wonder how many other cases should have been appealed? All together, hardly a track record to for Sotomayor to write home about. Since the Senate is considering her for a lifetime appointment, this less than satisfactory nominee by should be slowed down. In fact, if President Obama were concerned about the United States he would withdraw this nominee - but with his support of prior tax cheats, it is doubtful.

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