Legal News

In Supporting Sotomayor, Al Franken Stays on His Straight Man Script

By Nathan Koppel

Much of the anticipation among the press hordes in the Sotomayor confirmation hearings today has focused on someone other than the star: Al Franken, the junior member of the judiciary committee. Would he offer any stabs at humor?

Not a one. Franken, the former Saturday Night Live star turned Democrat politician who fought an exhaustive battle for the seat held by Republican Norm Coleman, played it deadly serious, even using some of his allotted time to try to put to rest any concern that he would be overly partisan. Addressing Republican Jeff Sessions, Franken said he would strive to "work with his colleagues across the aisle."

On the subject of judging, Franklin hit on the topic that has occupied all the senators: Judicial activism. Franken said he was wary of activism, and he said the current Supreme Court had evidenced too much of it. "Looking at recent decisions on voting rights, campaign finance reform," he said, "appropriate deference has not been shown [to precedent] in the past few years."

It was the other Minnesotan on the Judiciary Committee, Democrat Amy Klobuchar, who got the laughs this afternoon. When she met Sotomayor, she said, the judge recalled how she had to wear a parka in Minnesota in June. "But I won't hold that against you," Klobuchar said. She then went off on a long tangent about Pat Leahy's affection for the Grateful Dead, saying that Leahy even once turned down a chance to talk to the president because the senator was on stage with the Dead.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on July 13, 2009 (boomark / email).