Confirmation Hearings Day One

July 13, 2009, by adamzimmerman

Missed today’s live blog of Judge Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings. Read the complete transcript below and be sure to join us for day two on Tuesday.

9:01	AAUW: Good morning AAUW and friends!

9:01	AAUW: My name is Adam Zimmerman, and I am AAUW’s Regulatory Affairs Manager

9:02	AAUW: We are very glad you can join us for AAUW’s first-ever live-blog of a Supreme Court confirmation hearing

9:03	AAUW: The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 am this morning. We decided to start early to provide some “pre-game” analysis and information

9:05	AAUW: To start with the basics: on May 1, Justice David Souter announced his intention to retire from the Supreme Court, which became effective at the end of the Court’s 08-09 term

9:06	AAUW: You can read Justice Souter’s resignation letter to President Obama here: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/publicinfo/press/DHSLetter.pdf

9:09	AAUW: On May 26, President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor as his replacement

9:09	AAUW: You can read the President’s announcement here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-in-Nominating-Judge-Sonia-Sotomayor-to-the-United-States-Supreme-Court/

9:14	AAUW: Following the President’s announcement, AAUW released a statement on the nomination: http://www.aauw.org/About/newsroom/pressreleases/SCOTUSnom_052609.cfm

9:16

AAUW: As we said at the time: “Judge Sonia Sotomayor, if confirmed, would become the first Hispanic and only the third woman Supreme Court justice. AAUW is pleased that President Obama selected not only such an experienced nominee, but also a distinguished jurist whose broad range of life experiences would add welcome depth to the court.”

9:18	AAUW: A historical note: there have been 110 Supreme Court justices in our nation’s history; Judge Sotomayor would be the 111th. of the 110, 106 of them have been white males!

9:25	AAUW: In addition to the nominee herself, this nomination is historic for other reasons

9:25	AAUW: For instance, this is the first time a Democratic president has made a Supreme Court nomination since President Bill Clinton nominated Justice Stephen Breyer in 1994 – 15 years ago!

9:26	AAUW: And, if confirmed, Judge Sotomayor would be the first woman seated on the High Court since Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1993

9:27	AAUW: Speaking of Justice Ginsburg

9:28	AAUW: She is the subject of a fascinating interview in yesterday’s NY Times magazine, in which she talks about women’s role on the court and the history of women’s issues before the courts over the past several decades

9:29	AAUW: You can read that interview here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/magazine/12ginsburg-t.html

9:30	AAUW: For a variety of reasons, then, Judge Sotomayor’s nomination is historic

9:31	AAUW: AAUW, for our part, monitors the judicial nominations process because so many of our fundamental rights and liberties have been established and are protected by the federal courts.

9:33	AAUW: You can read our position paper on judicial nominations here: http://www.aauw.org/advocacy/issue_advocacy/actionpages/upload/judicialnominations111.pdf

9:33	AAUW: By the way, I’m pleased to report that we’ve got our first question from the viewing audience

9:34	AAUW: Please feel free to make comments and questions…we’ll insert those from time to time to keep the conversation flowing well

9:34	[Comment From Daniel Levy] If confirmed, should we expect Sotomayor’s presence on the Court to shift the balance of power?

9:34	AAUW: Thanks for your question, Daniel, it’s a good one

9:35	AAUW: In his nearly 20 years on the bench, Justice Souter was regarded as a moderate-to-liberal…even though he was appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990

9:36	AAUW: The conventional wisdom is that Judge Sotomayor, if confirmed, would be in a similar mode to Justice Souter

9:38	AAUW: Of course, there’s no way to predict the future record of a Supreme Court justice with 100 percent accuracy

9:40	AAUW: Sometimes, a justice’s record turns out to be different that what the prognosticators all predicted; Justice Souter, ironically, is a prime example. So it remains to be seen what kind of a justice Judge Sotomayor would become

9:40	AAUW: Thanks for your question, Daniel. Once again, to all those in the viewing audience, please feel to add your comments and questions

9:40	AAUW: We’re about 20 minutes away from the start of the hearing

9:42	AAUW: A little bit of how the hearing will go this morning

9:43	AAUW: At 10 am, Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT) will gavel in the start of the session

9:43	AAUW: Sen. Leahy is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee

9:44	AAUW: The first witnesses to speak will actually be the two senators from New York: Chuck Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand

9:45	AAUW: Judge Sotomayor was born in the Bronx, which is why she will be introduced by her two home-state senators

9:45	AAUW: Following those introductions, each senator on the committee will have the opportunity to make an opening statement

9:45	AAUW: There are 19 senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee

9:46	AAUW: Each is afforded up to 10 minutes for an opening statement

9:47	AAUW: It’s a process that takes awhile, but it provides each senator the opportunity to expound upon the nominee, or some of the issues they may bring up during questioning.

9:47	AAUW: Not to mention it allows all of us to look for clues that may indicate which we they may eventually vote

9:48	AAUW: Following opening statements – and an expected break for lunch – Judge Sotomayor will make her own opening statement

9:49	AAUW: That statement will be notable – it’ll be her first public comments on her nomination since the day President Obama announced her as his pick back in May

9:50	AAUW: It remains to be seen whether, following her statement, the Committee begins the substantive Q & A immediately thereafter or holds off on that until tomorrow

9:50	AAUW: Speaking of questions, AAUW submitted a list of questions we’d like to see the senators ask

9:51	AAUW: The questions touch on issues of importance to women and girls – pay equity, Title IX, employment discrimination, and reproductive rights, among others

9:51	AAUW: You can see the full list of questions we submitted here: http://www.aauw.org/advocacy/issue_advocacy/actionpages/upload/sotomayorHearingQuestions.pdf

9:53	AAUW: We’re particularly hopeful that a senator decides to ask how Judge Sotomayor would have voted had she been on the Court when the Ledbetter case came down

9:54	AAUW: As always, you can check out the work AAUW does on pay equity here: http://www.aauw.org/advocacy/issue_advocacy/actionpages/payequity.cfm

9:55	AAUW: Just a few minutes to go before the hearing begins!

9:55	AAUW: Again, we welcome comments and questions