Sotomayor fields Senate panel's volleys
WASHINGTON -- In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor quipped that she had been a "pretty good litigator" in her day and adept at persuasion. She could have been talking about her second day at the witness table.
She reframed questions to her advantage. She elaborated in ways that made her sound moderate and deftly navigated the nooks and crannies of the law. She refused to be pushed further than she wanted to go, by either Democrats or Republicans.
"I like you," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. "I may vote for you." On a recess, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, one of her harshest critics, called her "very charming."
Sotomayor, who would be the court's first Hispanic justice, provided a few clues to her views. She told Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that she believed regulation of abortion must account for the woman's health.
Sotomayor said she did not consider a 2007 Supreme Court decision that upheld a ban on the abortion procedure critics call "partial-birth," irrespective of whether a physician considers it best for the mother, "a rejection of its prior precedents (on abortion rights). The health and welfare of a woman must be a compelling consideration."
She referred to the importance of judicial deference to Congress in the legal war on terror and spoke about the personal devastation felt after the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center.
Explaining her view on reversing past cases, she said, "There are circumstances in which a court should re-examine precedent and perhaps change its direction … but that should be done very, very cautiously."
One case she said was wrongly decided was the 1944 Korematsu v. United States, the ruling in which the justices upheld the removal of Japanese Americans from their homes to internment camps. "A judge should never rule from fear," she said. "A judge should rule from law and the Constitution. It is inconceivable to me today that a decision permitting the detention and arrest of an individual solely on the basis of their race would be considered appropriate by our government."
