| Senate Confirms Sotomayor, 68-31 |
| By J. Taylor Rushing | |
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Posted: 08/06/09 03:15 PM [ET]
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The Senate on Thursday sent Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court with a modest display of bipartisan support, making her the first Hispanic justice and only the third woman to serve on the high court.
The 68-31 vote held few surprises, as a small band of Republicans joined Democrats in confirming her 72 days after President Barack Obama nominated the former prosecutor and judge. Her confirmation paves the way for Sotomayor to begin assembling her staff and prepare for the court to convene in October. At the White House, Obama said he was “pleased and deeply gratified” with the confirmation and “very happy” with the margin.
“With this historic vote, the Senate has affirmed that Judge Sotomayor has the intellect, the temperament, the history, the integrity and the independence of mind to ably serve on our nation’s highest court,” Obama said. Thursday’s confirmation paves the way for Sotomayor to begin assembling her staff and prepare for the court to convene in early October. Yet as a replacement for retiring, left-leaning Justice David Souter, she is not expected to significantly tilt the court’s philosophical balance. Obama stands a strong chance of an opportunity for another court pick, given that the average age of the nine current justices is 69. Justice John Paul Stevens is 89, while Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 76, Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy are both 73 and Justice Stephen Breyer is 70. Ginsburg also recently had surgery for pancreatic cancer.
The 31 Republicans voting against her nomination marks the second consecutive confirmation that fell mostly along partisan lines. GOP senators have blamed Obama for this trend, noting his votes against President George W. Bush’s two court picks while a member of the Senate. Nine of the 40 Senate Republicans voted for Sotomayor: Sens. George Voinovich (Ohio), Judd Gregg (N.H.), Kit Bond (Mo.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Susan Collins (Maine), Olympia Snowe (Maine), Mel Martinez (Fla.), Richard Lugar (Ind.) and Lamar Alexander (Tenn.). Gregg, Bond, Voinovich and Martinez are not seeking reelection. Most of the Republicans who supported Sotomayor said they did so because they believe she was qualified, not necessarily out of support for her political philosophy.
Gregg, for example, who is not seeking re-election, noted that he voted for Ginsburg and Breyer, who were both nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton. “Presidents have the right to pick their judges, as long as the judges are qualified from the standpoint of integrity, intelligence, academic ability, experience, and as long as they’re not outside the political jurisprudence of the mainstream,” Gregg said. “If so, I believe they should be confirmed.” The party-line clash over Sotomayor stayed true to the end, with Democrats defending her record and character and most Republicans painting the judge as a dangerous, independently minded activist who would not respect the principles of precedent and judicial restraint.
“Judges should see their role as a limited role and they should not seek to impose their policy values on the country,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee. “A judge is a neutral umpire. They call balls and strikes; they don’t take sides in the ballgame.” But Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) led the charge in Sotomayor’s defense, accusing Republicans of “unfounded insinuations about the integrity and character of this outstanding nominee.” “She is a judge of unimpeachable character and integrity,” Leahy said. “These critics have chosen to ignore her extensive record of judicial modesty and restraint from 17 years on the federal bench and instead to focus on — and mischaracterize — her rulings in just a handful out of her more than 3,600 cases.” The vote was given significant dramatic weight with the addition of a packed Senate gallery ringing the chamber’s upper floor — seats that are almost always empty or sparsely filled with tourists — and a tense silence during the voting. Nearly all senators sat at their desks, rising solemnly and casting their vote aloud as their names were called — a rare practice, since most Senate votes are far less formal.
The vote was presided over by the Senate’s newest member, Democrat Al Franken of Minnesota. A former comedian, Franken simply stuck to the script, even warning the audience at one point against any loud reactions as the vote was announced. Only Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who is battling brain cancer, was absent. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), who is also ill, was wheeled onto the chamber floor as his name was called. Raising his hand, Byrd uttered a soft “Aye,” and was wheeled back out of the room. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) was the only other senator not at her desk. Mikulski sat in a wheelchair in the Senate’s well, at the front of the room, with her left ankle propped up. Mikulski recently had ankle surgery. Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), who recently announced he is not running for re-election, nearly missed the vote. Bunning’s seat sat empty throughout the voting, prompting GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and GOP Whip Jon Kyl (Ariz.) to huddle as voting ended. Bunning has had strained relations with both men recently, as he has accused GOP leaders of stripping his fundraising ability. Almost as if on cue, Bunning then entered the chamber, strode to his desk as everyone watched, and voted no. The margin of Thursday’s vote closely mirrored the 67-29 total of Senate approval on Oct. 2, 1998, when Sotomayor was confirmed for a seat on the 2nd Circuit. At that time, all of the 29 opposition votes came from Republicans, although 25 of them crossed over to support her. “By confirming her today, the U.S. Senate refused to be intimidated by the National Rifle Association and instead did what’s right for the country and the rule of law,” Helmke said in a statement issued after the vote. This story was updated at 5:25 p.m.
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Ann
BEAUTIFUL, ALSO, ARE THE SOULS OF MY BLACK SISTERS 