www.LC.org

Washington, DC – The confirmation hearings move into the third day at 9:30 a.m., with more questioning of Sonia Sotomayor. Liberty Counsel’s blog of the entire hearing is at www.LC.org.

Yesterday, Sotomayor tried to move away from the now well-known phrase, “wise Latina woman.” In 1999, in a speech to the Women’s Bar Association of New York, she used the phrase similar to “a wise Latina woman” when calling for another woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court. In 2001, while speaking at Berkeley, she said: “Justice O’Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases…. I Am Also Not So Sure That I Agree With The Statement…. I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” Yesterday, Sotomayor stated: “The words I used, I used agreeing with the sentiment that Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was attempting to convey.” (emphasis added).

In 1992, The New York Times reported: “For 12 years she was a top policy maker on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.” The Times reported that “she played an active role” in the liberal legal advocacy group. The Associated Press reported that she served on the board from 1980-1992 and “headed the board’s Litigation Committee.” One brief of this group advocating abortion stated: “Just as Dred Scott v. Sanford refused citizenship to Black people, these opinions [restricting abortion] strip the poor of meaningful citizenship under the fundamental law.” In the 1992 Supreme Court decision on abortion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the group filed an amicus brief, arguing that abortion restrictions were akin to “slavery.” Yesterday, despite serving on the Litigation Committee and chairing the committee for four years, she said: “I never reviewed those briefs.” She later acknowledged that she did review the briefs to make sure they complied with the group’s “mission.”

Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, commented: “The American people expect to understand the judicial philosophy of nominees to the Supreme Court. Sonia Sotomayor must answer the hard questions and let the American people decide. What is most troubling about some of Sotomayor’s testimony is the obvious attempt to distance herself from her past statements and actions with a liberal legal advocacy group rather than explain them. Judges must speak with complete candor in order for the people to maintain confidence in the legal system.” 

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