Confirmation Hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor

I had a unique opportunity to attend the confirmation hearings last week for Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Senator Jeff Sessions extended an invitation to both me and the Dean of the University of Alabama School of Law and I was pleased to accept. As a result of the invitation I spent Tuesday watching the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee ask Judge Sotomayor questions. I came away with two important impressions.

First, I was very impressed with Judge Sotomayor. As a former federal judge, I am pleased to see someone with experience as a federal trial judge be considered for the high court. She is obviously a person of great intelligence and did an excellent job answering the Senator's questions.

Second, I was impressed with the process. The process is inherently political in nature so many of the questions on both sides raised political issues. Nonetheless, I also saw excellent questions posed by both democrats and republican senators. I also thought the tone of the proceedings was very appropriate. The senators were respectful of the judge and vice-versa. This was Senator Sessions first confirmation hearing as the ranking minority member on the committee and he acquitted himself well. He set an appropriate tone for the members on his side of the aisle. I also watched he and Senator Leahy, the ranking democrat, work together very well.

Seeing the confirmation hearings in person was a unique experience and one I will always remember.