Questions for Judge Sotomayor
July 10, 2009 | By Nathaniel Ward
On Monday, the United States Senate will begin hearings on President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor. This is an important part of its Constitutional duty to give its "advice and consent" to judicial appointments.
To keep the public informed on these important debates, The Heritage Foundation invites you to join Heritage Distinguished Fellow and former Attorney General Edwin Meese and Senator Jim DeMint (R–S.C.) for a teleconference on Tuesday, July 14 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.
» Click here to sign up for the call and let these key players know your concerns.
Heritage experts have done a lot of work on the dangers of judicial activism and the need to apply the Constitution according to its original meaning. Unfortunately, Judge Sotomayor's record raises serious concerns in both of these critical areas.
Shortly after President Obama nominated Judge Sotomayor to the high court in May, Meese remarked:
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.
Senators have a responsibility to diligently investigate whether she will act responsibly on the bench by upholding the Constitution, not her personal political preferences.
Heritage's Deborah O'Malley and international law expert Steve Groves have assembled a list of solid questions to help guide the Senators in the "advice and consent" process.
O'Malley encourages Senators to pose questions that challenge Sotomayor's "judicial philosophy, fairness on the bench, and fidelity to the Constitution."
Groves offers a few suggested questions as well. For instance, he wonders how Judge Sotomayor will treat foreign and international laws and whether she would allow "America's more illiberal neighbors within 'the world community' [to] influence the Court's decisions?"
As the hearings proceed, the Senate must keep in mind that the task at hand is to select an individual who will do justice by faithfully upholding the Constitution and impartially deciding cases. "Doing justice, after all, is the duty of a judge," explains Heritage Senior legal policy analyst Andrew Grossman. "Shirking tough or inconvenient cases is incompatible with the judicial role."
Check back to Heritage's Supreme Court Rapid Response page for a round-up of Heritage resources on the hearings.
- Amanda Reinecker
Other Heritage work of note
- The Department of Homeland Security has announced plans to gut "responsible, reasonable workplace verification rules," Heritage national security expert James Carafano reports. "Enforcing workplace laws is a vital component to create disincentives to unlawful immigration," he continues. "Congress should not authorize or fund efforts to scale back workplace enforcement."
- "Fingers are pointing at North Korea as the perp in a spate of cyber-strikes against both South Korean and American government targets, beginning July 4," Heritage expert Peter Brookes writes in the New York Post. Twenty-five U.S. government-related websites fell prey to Pyongyang's cyber-strikes. Though these "offensive computer operations" were "relatively unsophisticated," Brookes warns that they expose a real weakness in our security arrangements.
- While in Moscow, President Obama made a surprisingly eloquent speech in defense of national sovereignty, Heritage European relations expert Nile Gardiner writes in Britain's Telegraph. The President rightly supported each nation's basic rights to choose its leaders and secure its borders. Gardiner recommends that if the President truly subscribes to these words, "he should end his administration's support for Euro federalism, and instead back the principle of national sovereignty in Europe."
- The Obama administration maintains an ideologically-driven double standard when dealing with foreign governments, argues Heritage Vice President Kim Holmes. "For some in the Obama administration, leftist authoritarians like [Venezuela's Hugo] Chavez and 'anti-imperialist' radical regimes like Iran's are assumed to enjoy some kind of legitimacy inside their own countries." Unfortunately, Holmes reveals, we saw similarly misguided and idealistic foreign policies during the Carter administration.
In other news
- The U.S. and Israel have revealed that Iran could build a nuclear bomb within a year, though the chances of this happening are slim. One hopes that this "worst case scenario" motivates more countries to take a firmer stance on Iran.
- In an effort to challenge the declining American dollar, Chinese officials have called for a special international reserve currency.
- Russian President Medvedev returned to his tough rhetoric on U.S. missile defense shortly after President Obama's Moscow visit. The Russian leader vowed to deploy rockets near Poland, an American ally, if his nation and the U.S. did not reach an agreement on arms control.
- In fearful anticipation of a much more severe swine flu outbreak this fall, the President has called upon states to devise contingency plans. The President suggested in-school vaccinations, since the virus disproportionately affects teens and young adults. (Heritage's James Carafano warned against swine flu overreaction a few days ago.)
Coming up at Heritage
To attend these or any other events at Heritage please RSVP at Heritage's website. Or you can view these events live online. All times are Eastern.
- On Tuesday, July 14 at 11:00 a.m., a panel of experts will look at proposals to reform identification security laws and the impact of such change on our safety, security, and privacy.
- On Friday, July 17 at 10:00 a.m., legal experts including Principal Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal will join Heritage scholars for a discussion of the recently-concluded Supreme Court term.
Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation. Amanda Reinecker contributed to this report.
