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Sotomayor Hearings, Day 3: “Nobody In The White House Asked Me About Abortion”
Abortion | 10:47 a.m. Senator Tom Coburn, a Republican physician from Oklahoma, is trying to get at the judge’s views on abortion, including how soon she may believe that life begins. “We have this schizophrenic rule of law,” he said, adding that where death is defined with the absence of heartbeats, but a fetus’s heartbeat may be detected long before it is recognized by the courts as viable.
He also asked her whether technology and viability should be considered. The judge replied: “That’s not a question that the court reaches out to answer. That’s a question that gets created by a state regulation of some sort or an action by the state that may or may not place a burden on her.”
Unpersuaded | 10:33 a.m. In an interview this morning on Fox News, Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, expressed dissatisfaction with the way that Judge Sotomayor answered questions on Tuesday. From a Fox transcript:
Frankly, I wasn’t persuaded. I had a good exchange with her, and she finally concluded that and said, ‘I really used bad phraseology.’ But she didn’t repudiate what she had said, and I thought the meaning was unmistakable. I thought it would have been fairly easy for her to say, ‘You know, that idea that I was trying to express, that gender and ethnicity will make a big difference in judging and that it’s not to be repudiated, but to be advanced, that’s not something I should have told those students. I should have told them of course that Lady Justice is blind, and they would have to set their prejudices aside if they ever got to be a judge.’
She didn’t do that, and so I’m still unpersuaded that she is repudiating what she said.
As for how the committee vote might go on his side of the aisle, Senator Kyl said he did not believe all the Republicans would vote against her confirmation. (In fact, Senator Lindsey Graham, without saying so, seemed to suggest he was leaning that way because of the November elections and a respect for the president’s nominees. ) “I think, at the end of the day, there will be some who vote her, some who vote against her both on the committee and in the Senate,” Senator Kyl said. “There is no Republican position on her confirmation.”
Lively Passions | 10:24 a.m. Perhaps it’s because a Democrat is asking friendlier questions, but Judge Sotomayor seems to be loosening up a little, joking more about her word choice. And even when questioned by Senator Cornyn, she seemed a bit more emphatic in a consistent way as she answered questions for the second day in a row about being a wise Latina. At least twice today too, she’s talked about her passions; for example, she said in terms of her own passion, believing that American citizens are guaranteed the right to vote wouldn’t be unique to her.
Abortion Rights | 10:00 a.m. The judge, when asked, confirms that no one — not even President Obama — asked about her views on abortion and the Roe v. Wade decision during her meetings at the White House before her nomination was announced. This is a perennial issue for nominees — because presidents frequently assert that they have imposed no “litmus test” on the topic, for or against.
Senator Cornyn confronted her with quotes by George Pavia, a partner at the law firm where she worked many years ago before becoming a federal judge in 1992. In a Washington Post article, Mr. Pavia was quoted as guaranteeing that Judge Sotomayor was an abortion-rights advocate.
The judge said she “had no idea” how Mr. Pavia would be able to make that assertion. “I know for a fact I never spoke to him about my views on abortion nor my views on any social issues,” she said.
At another point, however, when prodded as to whether she was liberal, she countered that a liberal instinct might include the fact that she promoted equal opportunity throughout America and referred to her work as a board member at the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Wise Latina, Again | 9:47 a.m. It’s Senator John Cornyn’s turn to question the judge, and he immediately revisits what Ms. Sotomayor said yesterday as she tried to explain remarks she’s made in speeches about how a wise Latina may make better decisions than others. She acknowledged that her “words failed,” but said the message she intended remained the same. And again, as she did yesterday, she reminded everyone that during his confirmation hearings, Samuel Alito referred to his Italian ancestry and upbringing in discussing his life experience:
It is clear from the attention that my words have gotten and the manner in which it has been understood by some people that my words failed. They didn’t work. The message that the entire speech attempted to deliver, however, remains the message that I think Justice O’Connor meant, the message that higher nominees including Justice Alito meant when he said that his Italian ancestry
he considers when he’s deciding discrimination cases.
She added: “I think life experiences generally, whether it’s that I’m a Latina or was a state prosecutor or have been a commercial litigator or been a trial judge and an appellate judge, that the mixture of all — of all of those things, the amalgam of them, help me to listen and understand.” Still, as a judge, she said she relied on the law to decide a case.”
Firefighters Surface | 9:32 a.m. Good morning, everyone.
We’re back for the third day of the confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor. She’s entered the room, as have members of the New Haven Fire Department, dressed in their uniforms. The firefighters, in absentia before today, have been front and center in discussions about the Supreme Court ruling finding discrimination against white members on a promotional exam. My colleague Sheryl Gay Stolberg just spoke to some of the firefighters, who confirmed that Frank Ricci, the lead plaintiff in the discrimination case, is in attendance.
Several senators still have their 30-minute rounds to go. Among them are two Republicans, Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, and several Democrats — Senators Amy Klobuchar, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania (formerly a Republican and former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee), Al Franken of Minnesota and Ted Kaufman of Delaware.
Senator Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the panel, indicated that Judge Sotomayor will undergo questioning from eight more senators.
CLICK THIS LINK FOR A CONTINUATION OF THIS STORY AT THE NEW YORK TIMES: Live Blogging Sotomayor Hearings, Day 3 – The Caucus Blog – NYTimes.com.
