Sotomayor Hearings, Day Three: Hamilton Berger Edition
When testimony resumed this morning in Judge Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing, the focus moved to Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who was balancing his political role as NRSC Chair against his position as a sen. from a state with a large Hispanic population.
Cornyn led off by dismissing the notion that the party might consider a filibuster of her nomination. "That's not going to happen to you if I have anything to say about it," he said. "You will get that up-or-down vote on the Senate floor."
But, with the remainder of his 30-minute questioning period, he hit on each of the main GOP themes, though he was notably less combative that some of his colleagues. He started off by questioning her "wise Latina" speech before moving to abortion rights and her ruling in Ricci v. DeStefano. He also tried to paint her as a "liberal" based on her work for the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF).
When he addressed Ricci, TV cameras showed members of the New Haven (CT) Fire Dept. seated in the gallery.
Following the hearing, Cornyn said that Sotomayor "is a very charming and obviously very intelligent individual," but that he has concerns about her objectivity and positions. He said he saw a difference between Sotomayor's testimony and her past speeches and court rulings.
As NRSC chair for the '10 cycle, however, Cornyn is not only leading a party reeling from recent widespread losses, but he is also running a variety of candidates across the ideological spectrum. Conservative candidates will be relying on the GOP base for support -- and would not necessarily want to be seen as rubberstamping Pres. Obama's first nom to the nation's highest court. But moderate GOPers, particularly those from states with large Hispanic populations (Gov. Charlie Crist, for instance, who is running for SEN in FL), may be afraid of turning off that bloc of voters.
Other Sidebars
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) shaped his questions around two hot-button issues: abortion and gun rights. He started by condemning the anti-abortion protestors who have interrupted the hearings for their tactics, but later pushed Sotomayor on late-term abortion and other difficult issues.
Meanwhile, when asked about rights to self-defense, Sotomayor cited a hypothetical in which she were to obtain a gun to shoot Coburn.
Coburn responded, seemingly referencing the Cuban character Ricky Ricardo from "I Love Lucy," "You'll have lots of 'splainin' to do."
Just before 4 p.m., the second round of questioning began, with Judiciary Cmte Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-AL) once again emerging as Sotomayor's sharpest critic on the panel.
Sessions grilled Sotomayor for her recent gun-rights ruling in Maloney v. Cuomo, consideration of foreign law in deliberations and role as chair of PRLDEF's litigation cmte.
Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) also questioned Sotomayor for the GOP, but they were more measured in their criticism.
Gaffe Of The Day
Newly-minted Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) began his first-round questioning by recalling that Sotomayor said she was motivated to become a prosecutor by watching the "Perry Mason" TV series. He noted that the Los Angeles DA, Hamilton Berger, lost all but one case, in the history of the show.
At the end of his questioning, he asked Sotomayor if she remembered which case Berger lost. When she was unable to answer his question, he said, "Didn't the White House prepare you for that?"
Order To Appear
Senate Judiciary Cmte Chair Pat Leahy (D-VT) said the cmte would resume the second round of questioning at 9:30 tomorrow morning. After each sen. has had the opportunity to question Sotomayor for up to 20 minutes, she will be dismissed. The panel will then begin hearing from the other witnesses invited by both the majority and minority.
(STEVEN SHEPARD)