WASHINGTON — Judge Sonia Sotomayor endured another round of sharp questions Thursday about her handling of a race-discrimination suit brought by New Haven firefighters. But by mid-morning she seemed assured of at least one Republican vote on the Senate committee weighing her Supreme Court nomination.The sharp questions were fired at her by Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, who pressed her repeatedly about the way she treated the firefighters’ lawsuit as a member of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
As she has before in the hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Judge Sotomayor tried to explain her vote against the firefighters in a cursory, or “per curiam,” decision, whose very brevity seems to have infuriated critics of the decision as much as the actual ruling. The judge has said the per curiam handling was not inappropriate, given the detailed decision rendered by a lower district court.
But Mr. Kyl refused to accept that explanation, citing a comment from a dissenting judge on the Second Circuit, who described the issues in the firefighters’ case as “indisputably complex and far from well-settled,” and thus deserving fuller exploration by the Second Circuit.
And Mr. Kyl expressed impatience with what he considered the judge’s indirect, rambling answers. “Excuse me, if I could just interrupt, we only have 20 minutes here,” Mr. Kyl said at one point, alluding to the time allotted each senator in this round of questioning.
The New Haven case, in which a group of white and Hispanic firefighters sued the city after the results of a promotional exam were thrown out because black firefighters did not fare well, has emerged as one of the most contentious issues in the hearings.
The Supreme Court recently overturned the Second Circuit in the case, ruling for the plaintiffs. Mr. Kyl asserted that, even though the high court ruling was by a 5-to-4 margin, it was clear from reading the various opinions that all nine justices had disagreed with the Second Circuit’s cursory treatment of the case — an interpretation Judge Sotomayor said she did not accept.
The senator grew so exasperated with the judge’s replies to his queries that he said at one point that he was going to treat her as she would treat a lawyer who gave vague, rambling answers. “That’s all fine and dandy, counsel, but answer my questions,” he said.
Judge Sotomayor fared far better with Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of seven Republicans on the 19-member panel, who signaled that he intended to vote for her.
“We’ll see what your future holds, but I think it’s going to be pretty bright,” Mr. Graham said.
The senator spoke at length about the dangers of “activist judges” who try to remake the law according to their visions of how the world should be. But despite his disagreements with some of her stances, Mr. Graham said he was confident the judge was “broad-minded enough” to understand that “the world is bigger than the Bronx, bigger than South Carolina.”
Moreover, Mr. Graham introduced a supportive letter from Kenneth W. Starr, the one-time special prosecutor who investigated the affairs of former President Bill Clinton. “You have earned the respect of Ken Starr,” Mr. Graham said.
Before wishing Judge Sotomayor “good luck,” Mr. Graham extracted an apology from her over her observations that “a wise Latina woman” might decide a case differently from someone without those attributes.
“I regret that I have offended some people,” the judge said.
The senator also alluded to the firefighter Frank Ricci, the named plaintiff in the New Haven lawsuit. “Mr. Ricci has a story to tell, too,” the senator said.
In fact, Mr. Ricci is expected to tell his story to the committee soon.
During a recess on Thursday, the committee’s ranking Republican, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, said that he was undecided on the nomination but that he was “very, very worried” about some of Judge Sotomayor’s positions. The senator has voiced concerns about “liberal activist” judges, and in an interview on Thursday with CNN he wondered how Judge Sotomayor would perform “once loose on the American public” with a lifetime Supreme Court seat.
But Mr. Sessions has pledged to give the nominee a fair hearing. He has said he empathizes with nominees because his own nomination for a federal district judgeship was scuttled two decades ago over accusations that he had shown insensitivity on racial issues — accusations that he and some black associates disputed.
Source http://www.nytimes.com
