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Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings Begins

Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings Begin
This week, President Barack Obama’s first nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court is undergoing Senate confirmation hearings by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Judge Sonia Sotomayor, a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Second District, was nominated on May 26, 2009 by President Obama to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter. If she is confirmed, she will become the 111th Justice and the first person of Hispanic heritage.
Judge Sotomayor’s potential confirmation raises serious concerns for many pro-family groups because of her political stance against the sanctity of life and her judicial activist tendencies. While Judge Sotomayor has attempted to assuage Republican Judiciary Committee members’ concerns, she has avoided answering questions regarding life issues.  Her 12-year tenure with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (Defense Fund) is quite revealing. While a member of the Defense Fund’s board, she advocated for the expansion of abortion funding to low-income citizens. Further, in their brief to the court, the Defense Fund equated a state’s right not to fund abortion services to low-income woman to subjecting them to a form of slavery.
While Sotomayor’s abortion views should be a concern to those who value human life, the nominee’s apparent belief that “the court…is where policy is made” is also cause for concern. Recent actions by California courts – as demonstrated by the Supreme Court’s overturning of Proposition 22 – illustrate the danger of courts creating law, rather than applying laws created by legislative representatives. Sotomayor’s political activism as a jurist has resulted in several of her court’s decisions being overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
As expected, the Committee proceeding will not provide any further insight into Judge Sotomayor’s judicial philosophy. Repeatedly, Judge Sotomayor declined to respond to questions regarding her personal views, previous cases, or hypothetical cases. Sotomayor’s responses to committee questions have been the question is “in the abstract,” is not specific enough to a specific case, or that she cannot respond to inquiries about cases that may come before the court. 
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