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Washington, DC - The confirmation hearings of Sonia Sotomayor continue today at 9:40 a.m., with each member of the Senate Judiciary Committee having 30 minutes for questions. Liberty Counsel will continue its interactive blog of the entire hearing at www.LC.org.

Yesterday the Democrats and the Republicans laid out their strategy and concerns. The Democrats avoided addressing the recent Ricci case involving the Connecticut firefighters, where the Supreme Court reversed Sotomayor. They continued to press President Obama's so-called "empathy" standard, whereby a judge decides cases in part on personal empathy. The Republicans labeled the "empathy" standard as another way of saying judicial activism. Senator Sessions (R-AL) said, "Empathy towards one party is always prejudice to the other." Senator Hatch (R-UT) reminded his colleagues that then-Senator Obama voted against John Roberts and Samuel Alito Jr., which showed he would not nominate someone like them. Both Justices testified during their confirmation hearings that a judge must follow the rule of law.

Today the questions begin. Questions will address Sotomayor’s judicial philosophy. Previously Sotomayor said that appellate courts are "where policy is made." During a recent conversation with a Senator, she said, "My experiences will affect the facts I choose to see as a judge." She also said, "Impartiality is just an aspiration." In contrast, some of the Justices currently serving on the Court said the following during their confirmation hearings. Justice Scalia said: "Policy views will not inform my decisions from the Supreme Court." Justice Thomas said: "A judge must not bring to his job, to the Court, the baggage of preconceived notions, of ideology, and certainly not an agenda." Justice Alito said: "It’s my job to apply the law. It’s not my job to change the law or to bend the law to achieve any result."

Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, commented: "When someone is nominated for essentially lifetime tenure to the highest Court in the land, the American people expect those charged with the confirmation process to ask the hard questions. Loyalty to the Constitution must take precedence over loyalty to a political party. The rule of law is at stake - the balance of power established by our Founders rides on every vote cast by a Justice of the Supreme Court. There is no ‘empathy’ or subjective standard of interpretation. There is only one standard, and that is the rule of law."

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