By: Josh Gerstein
Source: politico.com
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor put judicial restraint into practice Monday afternoon — passing up the opportunity to deliver a passionate rebuttal to critics who have accused her of embracing the idea that her personal biases and ethnic background affect her judicial philosophy.
In her low-key and relatively brief opening statement, Sotomayor acknowledged no pain at being branded by some prominent Republicans as a “Latina racist.” In fact, she made no explicit mention of a fact ubiquitous in news accounts of her nomination: she would be the first Hispanic woman on the court.
Instead, Sotomayor offered an understated defense of her experience as contributing to her judicial wisdom, and not dictating a result in favor of one side or another.
Later in her brief statement, Sotomayor said, “In the past month, many Senators have asked me about my judicial philosophy. It is simple: fidelity to the law. The task of a judge is not to make the law – it is to apply the law. And it is clear, I believe, that my record in two courts reflects my rigorous commitment to interpreting the Constitution according to its terms; interpreting statutes according to their terms and Congress’s intent; and hewing faithfully to precedents established by the Supreme Court and my Circuit Court. In each case I have heard, I have applied the law to the facts at hand.”
See the full text of Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor’s opening statement HERE.
Sonia Sotomayor goes low-key on day one of hearing
