Archived page
This page describes the reaction to the nomination of Justice Sotomayor in 2009. This page has not been updated since 2009.

Patrick Leahy[edit]

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont)

"Judge Sotomayor has a long and distinguished career on the federal bench. She has been nominated by both Democratic and Republican presidents, and she was twice confirmed by the Senate with strong, bipartisan support. Her record is exemplary. Judge Sotomayor’s nomination is an historic one, and when confirmed she will become the first Hispanic Justice, and just the third woman to sit on the nation’s highest court. Having a Supreme Court that better reflects the diversity of America helps ensure that we keep faith with the words engraved in Vermont marble over the entrance of the Supreme Court: “Equal justice under law.”

Chairman Leahy also stated:

"The Supreme Court is the final arbiter in the federal judiciary, with a fundamental role in our system of government and a fundamental impact on Americans’ everyday lives. One need look no further than the Lilly Ledbetter and Diana Levine cases to understand how just one vote can determine the Court’s decision and impact the lives and freedoms of countless Americans. I believe that Judge Sotomayor will be in the mold of Justice Souter, who understands the real-world impact of the Court’s decisions, rather than the mold of the conservative activists who second-guess Congress, and who through judicial extremism undercut laws meant to protect Americans from discrimination in their jobs, their access to healthcare and education, and their privacy from an overreaching government. I believe Judge Sotomayor understands that the courthouse doors must be as open to ordinary Americans as they are to government and big corporations."^[1]

Mitch McConnell[edit]

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky)

"“Senate Republicans will treat Judge Sotomayor fairly. But we will thoroughly examine her record to ensure she understands that the role of a jurist in our democracy is to apply the law even-handedly, despite their own feelings or personal or political preferences,"Senator McConnell stated.

The Senate Minority Leader also stated:

“Our Democratic colleagues have often remarked that the Senate is not a ‘rubber stamp.’ Accordingly, we trust they will ensure there is adequate time to prepare for this nomination, and a full and fair opportunity to question the nominee and debate her qualifications.”^[2]

Herb Kohl[edit]

Senate Judiciary Committee Vice Chairman Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin)

“I’m pleased to learn of President Obama’s historic nomination of the first Latina to the Supreme Court. By all accounts, Judge Sotomayor is accomplished, exceptionally bright and well-respected by her peers. It would be tough to classify her as a liberal or a conservative, and my hope is that she is a candidate I can support. I look forward to learning more about her experience and views during her confirmation hearings later this summer. In the meantime, I plan to reconvene my Supreme Court Nomination Task Force to review Judge Sotomayor’s qualifications and give me a balanced view of her record.”^[3]

Jeffrey Toobin[edit]

Noted Supreme Court Scholar Jeffrey Toobin

"Well, the thing that is so different about Sonia Sotomayor is that she has a lot of street-level experience with the criminal justice system. She was a prosecutor in New York City. She was a trial judge -- a federal trial judge, in New York City. That’s something that none of the justices in the Supreme Court have done -- is had the experience with juries, with defendants, handling the traffic in a courtroom. But the thing that makes her such a formidable choice is that she also has the intellectual achievements and that -- that people expect in a Supreme Court justice -- the distinguished academic career and a decade on the federal court of appeals in New York, where she has a record that is pretty much unassailable.”^[4]

Jay Sekulow[edit]

American Center for Law and Justice Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow

“This is a very aggressive decision that will trigger a national debate on the issue of judicial activism,” said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. Mr. Sekulow also stated, “The background and philosophy of Judge Sotomayor clearly puts the Constitution front and center. How will this nominee view the Constitution and the rule of law? Will she embrace past comments when she stated that the ‘court of appeals is where policy is made?’ This nomination raises serious questions about the issue of legislating from the bench. We’re hopeful that the members of the Senate will ask the tough questions about her judicial philosophy and temperament when the confirmation hearings get underway this summer. The American people deserve to fully understand what kind of Justice is being nominated to serve on the nation’s highest court for decades to come.”^[5]

Kim Gandy[edit]

National Organization for Women President Kim Gandy

"This morning we will celebrate, and this afternoon NOW will launch our "Confirm Her" campaign to ensure the swift confirmation of the next Supreme Court Justice.

Ms. Gandy also stated:

"Nominated to serve as the third woman and first Hispanic on the Supreme Court in the history of the United States, Judge Sotomayor will serve the nation with distinction. She brings a lifelong commitment to equality, justice and opportunity, as well as the respect of her peers, unassailable integrity, and a keen intellect informed by experience. President Obama said he wanted a justice with "towering intellect" and a "common touch" and he found both in Judge Sotomayor."

"What more do women want? We want a swift confirmation in the U.S. Senate, and Associate Justice Sotomayor to join Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Court before the Senate's August recess, said Ms. Gandy."^[6]

Richard Epstein[edit]

Richard A. Epstein, James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law, University of Chicago

"Evidently, the characteristics that matter most for a potential nominee to the Supreme Court have little to do with judicial ability or temperament, or even so ephemeral a consideration as a knowledge of the law. Instead, the tag line for this appointment says it all. The president wants to choose "a daughter of Puerto Rican parents raised in Bronx public housing projects to become the nation's first Hispanic justice."

"Obviously, none of these factors disqualifies anyone for the Supreme Court. But affirmative action standards are a bad way to pick one of the nine most influential jurists in the U.S., whose vast powers can shape virtually every aspect of our current lives. In these hard economic times, one worrisome feature about the Sotomayor nomination is that the justices of the Supreme Court are likely to have to pass on some of the high-handed Obama administration tactics on a wide range of issues that concern the fortunes of American business."^[7]

Thomas Sowell[edit]

Thomas Sowell, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute

"Much is being made of the fact that Sonia Sotomayor had to struggle to rise in the world. But stop and think. If you were going to have open heart surgery, would you want to be operated on by a surgeon who was chosen because he had to struggle to get where he is or by the best surgeon you could find-- even if he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and had every advantage that money and social position could offer? If it were you who was going to be lying on that operating table with his heart cut open, you wouldn't give a tinker's damn about somebody's struggle or somebody else's privileges. The Supreme Court of the United States is in effect operating on the heart of our nation-- the Constitution and the statutes and government policies that all of us must live under. Barack Obama's repeated claim that a Supreme Court justice should have 'empathy' with various groups has raised red flags that we ignore at our peril-- and at the peril of our children and grandchildren."^[8]

Nancy Keenan[edit]

NARAL Pro-Choice President Nancy Keenan

"President Obama has selected a nominee with a distinguished record of professional accomplishments as a judge, prosecutor, and community leader. This impressive personal biography signals that she possesses an understanding of how the law affects everyday people's lives," Ms. Keenan said. "We are encouraged by the strong support she receives from her peers and other legal scholars and the fact that the Senate has twice confirmed her for federal judgeships. We look forward to learning more about Judge Sotomayor's views on the right to privacy and the landmark Roe v. Wade decision as the Senate's hearing process moves forward."^[9]

Roger Pilon[edit]

CATO Institute Vice President for Legal Affairs Roger Pilon

"In nominating Second Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor to fill the seat of retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter, President Obama chose the most radical of all the frequently mentioned candidates before him."

"Given the way her panel recently summarily dismissed the Ricci case – involving the complaint by New Haven, Connecticut, firefighters that the city had thrown out the results of an officers exam because the results did not come out “right” –- and the expectation, based on oral argument, that the Supreme Court will reverse the Second Circuit decision, there will likely be an extremely contentious confirmation battle ahead. If confirmation hearings are scheduled for summer, they will follow shortly upon the Court’s decision in that explosive case. Are we to imagine that President Obama chose as he did because he wants that battle?"^[10]

Ilya Shapiro[edit]

Editor in Chief of the CATO Supreme Court review Ilya Shapiro

"In picking Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama has confirmed that identity politics matter to him more than merit. Judge Sotomayor is not one of the leading lights of the federal judiciary and would not even have been on the shortlist if she were not Hispanic."^[11]

Mr. Shapiro also stated: "She has a mixed reputation, with a questionable temperament and no particularly important opinions in over 10 years on the Second Circuit. Most notably, she was part of the panel that summarily affirmed the dismissal of Ricci v. DeStefano, where the City of New Haven denied firefighter promotions based on an admittedly race-neutral exam whose results did not yield the “correct” racial mix of successful candidates. Sotomayor’s colleague Jose Cabranes a liberal Democrat, excoriated the panel’s actions and the Supreme Court will likely reverse the ruling next month."^[11]

"If this is the kind of “empathy” the president wants from his judges, we are in for a long summer—and more bitter confirmation battles in the future," further explained by Mr. Shapiro.^[11]

Ed Meese[edit]

Former US Attorney General Edwin Meese

"What we already know about Judge Sotomayor’s judicial philosophy from public statements and judicial opinions demands careful inquiry by the Senate. Senators must engage in robust advice and consent to assure that if confirmed, Judge Sotomayor would not use her seat on the Supreme Court to advance liberal policy preferences, rather than applying the Constitution as it is written."^[12]

Michael Kinsley[edit]

Washington Post Columnist Michael Kinsley

"If Obama had nominated a man who was a member of the Bohemian Grove, that would be a big issue and probably a fatal one. So how is it different if Sotomayor is a member of a club set up specifically to be the female equivalent? Rather than try to answer this question honestly, Sotomayor chose to make the preposterous argument that the Belizean Grove isn't a women's club. It's just that no men have ever applied for membership, you see. White clubs used to explain the absence of black members the same way. It's a laughable argument -- a brazen whopper -- and an insult to the citizenry and the Senate that must confirm her. The true answer is that we tolerate discrimination in favor of traditionally oppressed groups more than we tolerate discrimination against them. It's not symmetrical."^[13]

Footnotes[edit]