As Congress returns and the Senate prepares to take up confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor, it seems that many Senate Republicans have quietly admitted to the fact that President Obama has made a superb choice for the bench.
From a New York Times blog post:
Notwithstanding fierce criticism from the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich, there is scant evidence of solid opposition from Republican senators. Indeed, strategists on both sides say that one-third or more of the 40 Senate Republicans may vote to confirm her.
Our eyes will be on Sens. Roger Wicker and Thad Cochran, especially considering that Sen. Thad Cochran voted for her when she was appointed to the Appeals Court.
On her slow confirmation process obstructed by partisan Republicans in 1997:
She was finally confirmed by the Senate on a 68-28 vote, with some senior Republicans like Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Orrin Hatch of Utah, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and Richard Lugar of Indiana supporting her. But among those voting against her was Sessions, a key player in shaping how the GOP will handle Obama’s nominee.
Good luck, her honor.
[...] in a challenge to Senators Cochran and Wicker, the staff called on the state’s senators to support [...]
You’ll notice that Majority in Mississippi didn’t bother saying what it was about Judge Sotomayor that is so objectionable. I’ll take a gander that it was off-handed comment about Latino women making better judgements than white men.
Granted, that was a poor choice of words. But to use that one illustration as evidence of some prejudicial pattern is absolutely absurd.
If you review her race-related rulings on the Appeals Court, you will find that in the 98 race-related cases Judge Sotomayor ruled against claims of discrimination 78 times and for it only 10 times. (The other 8 cases involved other types of claims.) In other words, only less than 10 percent of the time she ruled that someone was the victim of racial discrimination.
Check my numbers here: http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/judge-sotomayor-and-race-results-from-the-full-data-set/
Hardly a prejudicial jurist. But then again, maybe that’s why Majority in Mississippi doesn’t like her, because she’s not prejudicial…