Self Proclaimed "Wise Latina", Um I Didn't Mean What I Actually Said

Senator Jeff Sessions took off after Sotomayor on her "Wise Latina" remark. Sotomayor's defense was to simply claim that despite saying it several time (7 by Sessions' count) it turns out she didn't mean it.

"My play on those words fell flat. It was bad," Sotomayor told Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, trying to defend her 2001 speech in which she suggested a "wise Latina" would usually reach better conclusions than a white man without similar experiences.

"I do not believe that any racial, ethnic or gendered group has an advantage in sound judgment," Sotomayor told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, the second day of her confirmation hearing to become the first Hispanic to sit on the high court. "I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge."

The federal appellate judge said her 2001 remarks to students at the University of California, Berkeley, were meant only to to "inspire them to believe that their life experiences would enrich the legal system" and not to suggest that any one group was more likely to reach a better conclusion.

But Sessions, the senior Republican on the committee, asked how Sotomayor could make such a claim Tuesday that she was "agreeing" with Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor that a "wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases.

It's good to see Sessions going directly after Sotomayor on this and briefly Ricci (my guess is hosta or someone else will go into more detail on that).

She's basically playing hide the ball with her, "I can't talk about this", "due deference to precedent", "open mind on every case", blah, blah, blah answers.

Lindsay Graham is an annoying fool but he was right when he said baring a meltdown, Sotomayor is going to be confirmed. At this point the Republicans need to lay down markers on judicial philosophy that can be used in '10 and '12.

UPDATE: hosta is going after her on the 2nd Amendment and Heller. He's getting into whether the 2nd Amendment is or should be incorporated against the state. She's dodging based on the fact that there are several cases working their way up to SCOTUS.

Fun moment...Orrin hosta describing what nunchucks are.

He's moved on to Ricci. He's asking why she didn't issue a full opinion instead of just adopting the district court's analysis. Now he just talked past that question and instead is making a speech against People for the American way and she's getting a pass on that question. Damn. What the hell was that? I hope he comes back to that in his second round.

Now Lahey is doing rebuttal work before Feinstein gets to gush.

Sessions is now pointing out that Lahey is a lying sack of shit when it came to Miguel Estrada.

It's starting to get testy. Good.

posted by DrewM. at 10:28 AM

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