Senate confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor began today as the Supreme Court nominee tried to preempt some of her critics.
“The task of a judge is not to make law,” she said in her opening statement. “It is to apply law.”
Norma McCorvey, known as “Jane Roe” during the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion, was arrested after she yelled that Sotomayor was “wrong” during Sen. Al Franken’s opening statement.
McCorvey became pro-life and converted to Catholicism after she befriended with one of an Operation Rescue leader.
Richard Land and other conservatives are concerned that Sotomayor would be an activist judge.
“The bottom line is that Sonia Sotomayor is an unpredictable wildcard,” Land said in a statement today. “Across the issues her record is either far too thin or hidden behind non-published orders and per curium opinions. Simply put, placing Sonia Sotomayor on the highest court in the land jeopardizes our nation’s commitment to equal treatment under the law.”
Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, plans to testify on Sotomayor’s connection to the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which filed several briefs related to abortion while she was on its governing board.
“Her PRLDEF record proves that she is an abortion advocate,” Yoest said in a statement. “That record includes opposition to parental notification, opposition to informed consent, opposition to bans on partial-birth abortion and support for taxpayer-funded abortions.”
Melissa Rogers, director of the Wake Forest University School of Divinity Center for Religion and Public Affairs, who is back to blogging, highlighted the religious liberty mentions in the opening statements.
Here’s a section from Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD):
There were neighborhoods that my parents warned me to avoid for fear of my safety because I was Jewish. The local movie theater denied admission to African Americans.
Community swimming pools had signs that said “No Jews, No Blacks Allowed.” Even Baltimore’s amusement parks and sports clubs were segregated by race. Then came Brown vs. Board of Education, and, suddenly, my universe and community were changed forever.
