Legal Research

Dworkin on Sotomayor Hearings

By Simon Fodden

The New York Review of Books has a series of podcasts online, one of which is of legal philosopher Ronald Dworkin interviewed by Hugh Eakin of the NYRB editorial staff. Dworkin addresses the formulaic nature of the hearings and particularly the notion, much mooted at the time, that a judge’s personal opinions should be irrelevant and her only task ought to be to faithful to the law.

Dworkin says at one point:

There’s a great myth abroad in America which is that a judge can decide cases by just saying I will apply the law whatever it is and my personal convictions will have nothing to with the matter. Now I say this a myth because it’s impossible to do that.

The recording is 14 minutes in length.

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on August 19, 2009 (boomark / email).