Who Is Sotomayor?
All this focus on the fight to get Sotomayor confirmed is fine because
it will probably have significant political repercussions. That said,
I'm not worried about the eventual outcome, if she's not confirmed you
can paint me red and call me conservative because that there's no way
that is happening.
My problem is: with democratic senators generally supportive of her candidacy and republicans opposed it will be republicans driving the substantial questioning. I trust Obama to have nominated someone I will like having on the SCOTUS but there are questions about her views on issues that will be in front of the court that I would like to have answered, if only out of curiosity. I don't imagine that many of my concerns will be addressed by conservative senators because their's are different from mine and I doubt liberal senators that do share my concerns will press her too much on any question. Furthermore, who among you thinks that her answers to any tough question will be substantive? We need a source of information outside of her hearings; I'm not sure what we can use.
Do any of you share this concern? What questions would you like answered?
I would like to know how she views state rights and more narrowly how she thinks the Commerce Clause applies to various regulatory disputes. That covers things like a national ID, the enforcement of drug laws when state and federal law is in conflict, the expansion of aspects of election standards and regulations that the federal government can impose on states (Let's get rid of gerrymandering!), and countless more. Then there's the other big one: executive power. What does she think of state secrets, executive privilege, the Freedom of Information act, etc.?
Again, I'm sure these topics will be broached in her confirmation hearings but I don't think republicans are going to come at them from my angle of interest and I don't think we'll get substantive answers.
What are your questions for her? Does anyone have ideas on where we can look for answers to these questions? I don't think a few speeches she's given are enough to draw conclusions, despite what GOP operatives are saying on TV.
My problem is: with democratic senators generally supportive of her candidacy and republicans opposed it will be republicans driving the substantial questioning. I trust Obama to have nominated someone I will like having on the SCOTUS but there are questions about her views on issues that will be in front of the court that I would like to have answered, if only out of curiosity. I don't imagine that many of my concerns will be addressed by conservative senators because their's are different from mine and I doubt liberal senators that do share my concerns will press her too much on any question. Furthermore, who among you thinks that her answers to any tough question will be substantive? We need a source of information outside of her hearings; I'm not sure what we can use.
Do any of you share this concern? What questions would you like answered?
I would like to know how she views state rights and more narrowly how she thinks the Commerce Clause applies to various regulatory disputes. That covers things like a national ID, the enforcement of drug laws when state and federal law is in conflict, the expansion of aspects of election standards and regulations that the federal government can impose on states (Let's get rid of gerrymandering!), and countless more. Then there's the other big one: executive power. What does she think of state secrets, executive privilege, the Freedom of Information act, etc.?
Again, I'm sure these topics will be broached in her confirmation hearings but I don't think republicans are going to come at them from my angle of interest and I don't think we'll get substantive answers.
What are your questions for her? Does anyone have ideas on where we can look for answers to these questions? I don't think a few speeches she's given are enough to draw conclusions, despite what GOP operatives are saying on TV.
