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Two More Senators For Round 1 Questions of Sotomayor

Wednesday, July 15, 2009 2:01 PM - By Elie Mystal

Sotomayor day 3 outfit.jpgWe’re going to finish off this live blog of the Sotomayor confirmation hearings with a bang. The last two Senators to ask questions of Sotomayor will be the very experienced Arlen Specter, and the Senator in his first week on the job, Al Franken.

This morning we learned that 70% of Above the Law readers believe that the Senators should be focusing on Sotomayor’s judicial record instead of her previous speeches. But many commenters thought that was a false dichotomy, and that Senators should take into account all of the available evidence and statements.

We also learned that Sotomayor really, really likes Perry Mason.

Check after the jump for the last round of updates from the first round of the Senate confirmation hearing of Sonia Sotomayor.

2:05: And we’re back. I wonder if Specter is pissed that he’s been given such a bad time slot because of his loss in seniority due to his party switching?

2:11: Specter references Judge Bork. God, he’s old.

2:20: I kind of like Specter’s way. Twice already he’s said “You’re not going to answer, let me move on.” Of course, it’d be better if he said “There’s no possible way you can answer that question without taking a position on a case that might come up before you.” Still, I kind of like the brusqueness of his approach.

Now Specter is wondering why the Court hasn’t addressed the abortion issue since Casey.

2:30: Specter claims that nobody can understand the “congruence and proportionality” test. Sotomayor is trying to explain it. Specter seems unsatisfied.

Specter says that Chief Justice Roberts was very deferential to the Congress when he was up for confirmation. But he suggests that Roberts wasn’t deferential when it came time to decide the voting rights case.

Are you suggesting that the Supreme Court nominees will be docile in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee and then not give a flying f*** when they are appointed for life? Breaking news indeed.

Specter: “is there anything that the Senate or Congress can do if a nominee says one thing and then does another thing … when they go across the street.”
Sotomayor: “It’s one of the beauties of our system …”

Nice.

2:38: Do you think there should be television cameras at in the Supreme Court? Specter does. Sotomayor doesn’t sound totally opposed to the notion.

2:40: Clerquette quips: “Judge Sotomayor is finally dressed like a New Yorker, in a black suit.” Don’t forget to check out the live blog of the hearings at Underneath Their Robes.

2:45: Al Franken liked Perry Mason too!

But he also likes free internet. He’s asking if there is a compelling First Amendment right for Americans to have access to a free or affordable internet connection. Sotomayor is trying to tell him “no” without hurting his feelings. We know that he has self esteem issues.

2:55: Franken gives Sotomayor a chance to slam Clarence Thomas over the voting rights case. Sotomayor can’t answer. She gives a very detailed answer about why she can’t answer. Franken seems satisfied.

But will he learn? He’s asking more questions about other specific cases where he sees “judicial activism.” Here’s a tip Senator Franken, she’s not really going to be able to answer these questions either.

3:05: Franken: “Do you believe that the Constitution contains a fundamental right to privacy.” Sotomayor goes into her legalese, but essentially, yes, she agrees with that.

But then Franken says “so whether a word actually appears in the Constitution is really not that relevant.”

Whoa there new guy, let’s not overreach. Sotomayor tries to bring him back to judicial reality. Somewhere, Scalia is coming up with a benchslap of Al Franken that will end all benchslaps.

3:09: You’ve got to be freaking kidding me. Al Franken ends his bit by asking Sotomayor Perry Mason trivia. I’m not joking. He asked her if she could name the one case in which Mason’s client was guilty.

She could not.

But what makes this all even worse is that Franken himself didn’t know the answer to the question. Isn’t the first rule of asking trivia questions that you have to actually know the answer yourself? I don’t use this term often but: Franken = Epic Fail.

3:15: This concludes our live blog coverage of the Sotomayor confirmation hearings. Three straight days of watching the U.S. Senate is enough to make a person long for the days of a unitary monarch. The hearings are not over, and we’ll keep our eye out for anything particularly interesting from the second round of Senate questioning or the witness testimony. But we’re assuming that the Senators have already used up all of their biting and incisive questions during the first round.

Thanks for reading, we hope you enjoyed it.

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