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Senate confirms Sotomayor for Supreme Court

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The US Senate confirmed Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court by a vote of 68-31 Thursday. The vote split mainly along party lines, with only nine Republicans voting to confirm. Senate Judiciary Committee ranking Republican Jeff Sessions (R-AL) delivered closing remarks before the vote, repeating his previous concerns that Sotomayor would be guided by personal bias. President Barack Obama said that he was pleased with the 68 votes, stating:The members of our Supreme Court are granted life tenure and are charged with the vital and difficult task of applying principles set forth at our founding to the questions and controversies of our time. Over the past 10 weeks, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate have assessed Judge Sotomayor's fitness for this work. They've scrutinized her record as a prosecutor, as a litigator, and as a judge. They've gauged her respect for the proper role of each branch of our government, her commitment to faithfully apply the law to the facts at hand, and her determination to protect our core constitutional rights and freedoms. And with this historic vote, the Senate has affirmed that Judge Sotomayor has the intellect, the temperament, the history, the integrity and the independence of mind to ably serve on our nation's highest court.Sotomayor will be sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday morning, taking the place of retiring Justice David Souter.. On Tuesday, the Senate began debate on Sotomayor's confirmation. Her nomination was approved by the Judiciary Committee last week by a 13-6 vote, mostly along party lines. Prior to that vote, Sotomayor faced questions from senators during late July confirmation hearings. Earlier last month, the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary gave Sotomayor a unanimous "well-qualified" rating.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on August 06, 2009 (boomark / email).