Repudiating Obama’s Judicial Philosophy – The Ninth Justice
by Stuart Taylor, Jr.
Perhaps the most remarkable exchange during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing came on Tuesday, when President Obama’s nominee flatly repudiated his judicial philosophy.
This is all the more striking because it’s a good bet that the Obama team knew it was coming. White House lawyers spent days prepping Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the hearings, and it was quite predictable that she would be asked about Obama’s "empathy" criterion for choosing nominees.
Indeed, I wonder whether the Obama team itself may even have suggested to the nominee that rejecting the Obama philosophy — as well as disavowing the apparent meaning of her years of "wise Latina woman" speeches — would be the best way out of a tight spot, for reasons explained below.
Sotomayor’s three days of "I just apply law to facts" testimony may evidence a tacit recognition by smart liberals such as Obama and Sotomayor that the American public is either too unsophisticated or too sensible — take your pick — to buy the undiluted liberal judicial philosophy that pervades her speeches, and his.
The predictable question came from Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., who asked whether Judge Sotomayor agreed with Obama’s repeated assertions that "the critical ingredient in [hard] cases is supplied by what is in the judge’s heart," including empathy for the powerless.
Sotomayor’s stunning response: "No, sir. That’s — I don’t — I wouldn’t approach the issue of judging in the way the president does. He has to explain what he meant by judging. I can only explain what I think judges should do, which is, judges can’t rely on what’s in their heart. They don’t determine the law. Congress makes the laws. The job of a judge is to apply the law."
Wow. Has anyone ever before delivered such a sharp rebuff to the president who nominated her? And on national television, no less?