July 9, 2009
Shocker of the Day: Sotomayor may have overstepped her bounds!

Posted at 11:49 am, in: SCOTUS
Tags: Arthur Hellman, Sonia Sotomayor

As the Washington Post reports, Sotomayor pushed the limits of the traditional role of an appellate court judge:

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s opinions show support for the rights of criminal defendants and suspects, skepticism of corporations, andsympathy for plaintiffs alleging discrimination, an analysis of her record by The Washington Post found. And she has delivered those rulings with a level of detail considered unusual for an appellate judge.

During nearly 11 years on the federal appeals court in New York, Sotomayor has made herself an expert on subjects ranging from the intricacies of automobile mechanisms to the homicide risks posed by the city’s population density. Her writings have often offered a granular analysis of every piece of evidence in criminal trials, and sometimes read as if she were retrying cases from her chambers.

Legal experts said Sotomayor’s rulings fall within the mainstream of those by Democratic-appointed judges. But some were critical of her style, saying it comes close to overstepping the traditional role of appellate judges, who give considerable deference to the judges and juries that observe testimony and are considered the primary finders of fact.

“It seems an odd use of judicial time, given the very heavy caseload in the 2nd Circuit, to spend endless hours delving into the minutiae of the record,” said Arthur Hellman, a University of Pittsburgh law professor and an authority on federal courts.

Someone once asked me why I was against Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination. Let me point you to the opening paragraph. Things I don’t look for in a judge: sympathizing with the criminals rather than the victims, anti-capitalism tendencies, and inherent sympathy for alleged victims of racism.

Beyondthat, what did they expect to find in this woman’s record? She openly admitted, with a laugh, they judges should be legislating from the bench. Of course she was practically retrying every case in her own mind and basing her rulings on that. Activist judges is how the Democrats roll. And, unfortunately, she’ll be sitting on the highest court in the land in a very short period of time. Any politician who votes to confirm her will be added to my list of members who need to be voted out of office.

In other news–let’s look for that silver lining–at least we might finally have someone in Washington willing to read through something. If our elected officials would examine every piece of legislation like Sotomayor apparently did for every piece of evidence, perhaps our country would be in a better place.