Sotomayor Grilled on Charges of Racism

Today began the question and answer phase of the Sonia Sotomayor hearings, with the most explosive charge in Sotomayor's nomination surfacing immediately, namely that she allows her personal background and ethnicity as a Latina to influence her decisions as a judge.

The Judiciary Committee chairman, Patrick Leahy, began his questioning with the topic, while Sen. Jeff Sessions, the panel's top Republican, used his full 30-minute allotment to hammer Sotomayor for statements from the last 15 years that he said prove she believes that a judge can and should allow his or her personal prejudices to inform decisions issued from the bench.

Leahy framed his questioning as an opportunity for Sotomayor to defend herself against weeks of accusations against her. Immediately following her nomination, conservatives seized on a comment that Sotomayor made in several speeches that she would hope that "a wise Latina" could reach a better decision than a white male.

Leahy said that one conservative "referred to you as the head of the Klu Klux Klan, another called you a bigot," he said. "You haven't been able to respond...So here's a chance for you to tell us what is going on here."

Sotomayor explained that she had frequently included the "wise Latina" language in speeches she had given to groups of Latinos or young female lawyers. "I was trying to inspire them to believe that their backgrounds would enrich the legal system, and to inspire them to believe they could become anything they wanted to become."

She allowed, however, that her comments "created confusion," and said, "I want to state unequivocally: I do not believe that any ethnic, racial or gender group has an advantage in coming to a judgment. I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge, regardless of their background or life experience."

Not satisfied with her answers to Leahy, Sessions told Sotomayor that while he liked what she was saying today, her comments were inconsistent with the opinions she'd been voicing for the last 10 or 15 years. Had she been as loyal to the rule of law in past statements as in the hearings, Sessions said, "We'd have a lot fewer problems today."

Sessions proceeded to cite several of Sotomayor's past comments about the role of a judge's background in reaching decisions, and pointed out that she had repeated the sentiments several times over a number of years. "I think it goes against the American ideal," he said.

Sotomayor responded that her words, which she made in academic or outside settings, had been misconstrued in the context of the nomination process, adding, "I believe my record of 17 years demonstrates fully that judges must apply the law and not make the law.''

Sessions pressed on, "Do you think there are any circumstances in which a judge should allow their prejudices to impact the decisions they're making?"

"Never their prejudices," Sotomayor said. "Life experiences have to influence you. We're not robots who listen to evidence and don't have feelings. You have to recognize those feelings and put them aside."

Sessions went on to say he was "very concerned" and "very troubled," citing her earlier comments and declaring, "That's not impartiality."

Sotomayor reiterated her opinion several times that although a person's background always influences the prism they see through, it should never influence a judge's decisions in court: "The law is what commands a result."

From there, Sessions segued into a discussion of the New Haven firefighters case, Ricci v. DeStefano, and asked if Sotomayor's background had influenced her finding against the mostly white firefighters.

"No sir," she said, explaining that she felt the precedents set by lower courts, other appellate courts and the Supreme Court essentially tied her hands in finding for the city of New Haven and against the firefighters.

Ultimately, she said, the Ricci case ended up with "the body that had the discretion and power to decide these tough issues," the Supreme Court, which overturned the precedent.

In later questioning, Sen. Dianne Feinstein complained that Sotomayor was wrongly being painted as an activist judge. She called earlier questions "provocative by their very nature," and congratulated Sotomayor for her calm reaction to them. "If there were a test for judicial temperament, you would pass with an A-plus-plus."