Senate Panel Approves Sotomayor in 13-6 Vote

This was not a big surprise at all. But it is content and that’s what this game is all about. 😀

Via NYT:

WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee voted, 13 to 6, on Tuesday to endorse the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, easing her path to likely confirmation as the first Hispanic member of the tribunal.

As expected, all 12 Democrats on the judiciary panel voted for Judge Sotomayor. But among the seven Republicans on the committee, only Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina voted in favor.

“She is a restrained, fair and impartial judge,” said Senator Patrick J. Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who heads the committee.

The action sends the nomination to the full Senate, where her confirmation by a comfortable margin seems to be assured.

Republican critics of the judge expressed displeasure with her rulings as a member of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, as well as with some of her public comments. The rulings and comments show that she is a judge is too “activist” and liberal and has too little commitment to the rights of gun owners, the critics complained.

Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the committee’s leading Republican, said just before the vote that he was compelled to oppose the nomination because of the judge’s “liberal, pro-government ideology.”

In an Op-Ed article in USA Today on Monday, Mr. Sessions wrote: “I don’t believe that Judge Sotomayor has the deep-rooted convictions necessary to resist the siren call of judicial activism. She has evoked its mantra too often. As someone who cares deeply about our great heritage of law, I must withhold my consent.”

Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said Mr. Sessions’ questioning of the nominee had been “sharp but fair.” Still, Mr. Schumer said, he was perplexed that anyone could accuse the nominee of being a liberal activist, since an examination of her record shows her to be a moderate.

Barring some totally unforeseen event or shocking disclosure, confirmation is inevitable, since the Democrats have a 60-to-40 advantage in the Senate, counting two independents who vote with them. Moreover, several Republicans in addition to Mr. Graham have announced that they will vote for her.

Mr. Graham said he supported the nomination, despite early reservations. “I feel good about Judge Sotomayor,” he said, adding he was sure that she would decide cases “based on what she thinks is right” and be an inspiration for young women. The Senate is expected to debate the nomination next week, so Judge Sotomayor is likely to be sworn in as the Supreme Court’s first Hispanic justice (and only its third woman) in time for the start of the high court’s next term, which begins in October.

I am heartened to see Republicans standing on their principles; for a change. I believe if there had been more Republicans in the Senate, that the “Wise Latino” would be been rejected. However, I am well aware that elections have consequences. If any conservatives want to be angry, be angry at Bush for royally screwing up the Republican Party’s holding in both houses of Congress. Before anyone accuses me of having the poorly-named “BDS”, it is a fact, that the Bush Administration made some serious blunders during is tenure and as a result of that the election went the way that it did. This nomination is one of the unfortunate bi-products of that process. The Republican Party should be mindful of this during the next election cycle in 2012, in their choosing of the next Presidential candidate.