In this blog series, HRC attorneys discuss news and break down legal theories relevant to a U.S. Supreme Court nomination and the recent retirement of Justice David Souter.
Next Monday, July 13th, the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor will begin. Sotomayor has been chosen to replace retiring Associate Justice David Souter. Despite the vast amount of public debate and media coverage revolving around her, Judge Sotomayor’s confirmation does not appear to face any major roadblocks. The Senate Judiciary Committee, comprised of twelve Democrats and seven Republicans will be conducting the hearings. One Republican member of the Committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who has spoken somewhat positively of Sotomayor to the press, responded in the affirmative when asked whether he thought she would be confirmed by the Senate. As for the Senate body itself, the recent certification of Al Franken as the Junior Senator from Minnesota, coupled with the usual caucusing of Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT), has given the Democrats a 60-seat majority – the exact number of votes needed to end a filibuster. Moreover, moderate Republican Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) have spoken very favorably of Judge Sotomayor.
Despite the apparent lack of suspense with regard to the confirmation vote, the hearings will be worth paying attention to because Sotomayor’s views have not been fully fleshed out on a number of issues of importance to us. Watch for discussions of reproductive rights, the right to marry, and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and check back here for further analysis.
Learn more about federal judicial nominations and follow our work on these crucial issues on HRC’s Equality in the Courts page.
Contributed by Phil Medley, Summer 2009 McCleary Law Fellow
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