Senate Confirms Sonia Sotomayor To The Supreme Court

YahooNews.com:

The Senate confirmed Sonia Sotomayor Thursday as the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court. The vote was 68-31 for Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's first high court nominee. She becomes the 111th justice and just the third woman to serve.

Democrats praised the 55-year-old Sotomayor as a mainstream moderate. But most Republicans voted against her, saying she'd bring personal bias and a liberal agenda to the bench.

Senators took the rare step of assembling at their desks on the Senate floor for the historic occasion, rising from their seats to cast their votes.

She replaces retiring Justice David Souter, a liberal named by a Republican president, and she is not expected to alter the court's ideological split.

Still, Republicans and Democrats were deeply at odds over confirming Sotomayor, and the battle over her nomination highlighted profound philosophical disagreements that will shape future battles over the court's makeup as Obama looks to another likely vacancy — perhaps more than one_ while he's in the White House.

The GOP decried Obama's call for "empathy" in a justice, painting Sotomayor as the embodiment of an inappropriate standard that would let a judge bring her personal whims and prejudices to the bench.

Congrats to Ms. Sotomayor. She deserves to be on the Supreme Court. And Republicans and conservatives in general still opposed to Sotomayor need to get over it, because even if it does turn out that Sotomayor's decisions are based on any liberal impartiality, it won't make a difference when you consider that she's replacing a liberal ideologue, David Souter, on the bench. My guess still says that Sotomayor will still be impartial--her overall record gives me hope.

Predictable Obama Picks Sonia Sotomayor For SCOTUS

FOXNews.com:

President Obama nominated federal Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, citing her "inspiring life story" and "distinguished career" in his decision.

Sotomayor, 54, would be the first Hispanic on the high court if confirmed. She would succeed Justice David Souter, who is retiring.

The president, in his announcement, said he was looking for a justice with a "common touch and a sense of compassion" as well as experience and depth of knowledge. He said Sotomayor, who grew up in a Bronx housing project and has an extensive judicial background, would come to the Supreme Court bench with more varied experience than anyone currently on the court when they were appointed.

Sotomayor, who said she was "deeply moved" by the president's decision, called herself an "ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences."

Obama called Sotomayor an "inspiring woman who I believe will be a great justice."

Yawn. Should anyone be surprised that Barry used his first opportunity and picked a female for SCOTUS? Not really, when you consider that Barry has a white, liberal base that would've been up in arms had dared to select a man. Hell, no matter how much Barry's minions in the press try to deny it, the fact that all of the finalists to replace David Souter were woman, shows you what Barry was going to pick the best FEMALE (instead of the best person) for the job from the get-go.

Anyway, Sotomayor certainly has the experience for the job and liberals will love using the fact that former President George H.W. Bush first picked Sotomayor to be a U.S. District Court judge--clever way to ward off conservatives seeking to ambush Sotomayor come the Senate Conformation hearings. And despite her liberal leanings as well as having made some controversial statements in the past, the feeling here is that with a Democrat majority in Congress (plus, strategically speaking this wouldn't be a good time for the GOP to risk pissing off the Hispanic populace), Sotomayor will easily be confirmed to SCOTUS.

Liberal Judge Sonia Sotomayor Once Stated That Courts Make Law

From all accounts radical judge Sonia Sotomayor seems to be the frontrunner to fill David Souter's spot on SCOTUS after he retires. And while the popular view is that Obama will pick a left-leaning judge to replace Souter (which would seemingly leave the ideology of the Court intact), a video has surfaced that Senate conservatives should be very worried about, one showing Sotomayor stating on the record that it's the courts job to set public policy:





Unbelievable as well as a complete and utter disregard of the law. Notice too how she just laughs off her foolish admission. It's no secret that the Left would love to have an activist judge, one who makes decisions on their emotions instead of the Constitution, on SCOTUS. It's no secret that Barry will mostly seek to please his liberal base with who he picks for SCOTUS, instead of finding the person that's best for the job. That's the way liberals roll and with a clear majority in the Senate, there's really not much in the way to stop them. But for a judge to state on the record that public policy is made in the Appeals court is criminal, and thus, judge Sotomayor should be disqualified for nomination to the Supreme Court.

Turncoat David Souter To Retire?

YahooNews.com:

Justice David Souter has told the White House that he will retire from the Supreme Court at the end of the court's term in June, a source familiar with his plans said Thursday night.

The source spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for Souter.

Speculation that the 69-year-old justice will be stepping down has been fueled by his failure to appoint law clerks from the fall term.

National Public Radio reported that Souter will remain on the bench until a successor is confirmed.

The Supreme Court declined to comment on the report.

Souter's retirement would give President Barack Obama his first pick for the high court. Court watchers expect him to choose a woman to join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, currently the only woman on the Supreme Court.

Really, this is no big deal. If Souter does retire, Obama will predictably please his stans by selecting another liberal, most likely a female, so Ruth Ginsburg can have somebody to talk about boys with. The ideological shift on SCOTUS will then stay the same and despite what the media says, the GOP won't put up much of a fight, because as we've seen in the past, with the challenges to Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas, unlike the loons, Republicans are more concerned with judges being qualified rather then whether or not they meet ideological litmus tests.