Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee is taking its vote on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. For some reason, it’s a re-hash of the same comments made by the same senators at the hearing.
Sen. Chuck Grassley is the first senator to take a tacky swipe, repeatedly, at Justice Souter.
Sen. Lindsey Graham gave a rather interesting comment on the fact that he’s the only Republican supporting Judge Sotomayor, saying that he understood now how Sens. Leahy, Feingold and Kohl felt when voting for Chief Justice Roberts.
Graham, still though, raised his issues: “The speeches did bug the hell out of me. . . . The speeches had to be put in context of her entire record.”
Sen. Cornyn, a la Grassley, shows that nothing said in the hearing actually changed any of his pre-determined views. Grassley hopes that this hearing will result in an agreed understanding that “radical views have no place on the federal bench.”
Sen. Durbin just gave the best explanation from a Senator of how Judge Sotomayor’s “wise Latina woman” statement, saying that she recognizes an acknowledgment of difference. It was a great clip that I’ll post if I can find it.
Sen. Coburn, proving his continued ability to demean both the legal and medical professions, notes that he as a doctor has concerns about whether Sotomayor actually understands the Second, Fourteenth, Fourth and Fifth Amendments. He also “reveals” his trap, and makes the amusing statement that he “regret[s] that I can’t vote for her” because . . . wait for it . . . she refused to stand by her “wise Latina” comment. Seriously, since she said it “fell flat” after days of questioning on it, he says that’s the reason he can’t support her is because of that? Easily the most disingenuous vote of the day! There was no way Coburn ever considered voting for her.
Finally, Judge Sotomayor is approved 13-6 by the Judiciary Committee, sending her nomination to the full Senate.
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Chris Geidner is a lawyer in Washington, D.C., who writes at Law Dork, is the senior political writer at Metro Weekly and has written for The Atlantic Online, Advocate.com, Salon and other publications. An extended biography can be found