by Clerquette
You can email Clerquette at [email protected], or find her on Facebook and Twitter!
Welcome back, Groupies! The above-signed blogress can hardly wait to see what the afternoon holds ... more slavish praise for Judge Sotomayor's humble beginnings? More debate about the merits of empathy? More, and more technical, sports analogies? Al Franken? We hope you'll check in with us throughout the day. Keep refreshing your browser, and scroll down for the latest news.
2:04: The soldiers have returned from lunch. Expect intense head-nodding to set in around 3:22. In the meantime, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) discusses the modest roots of past Supreme Court Justices, for which this blogress is immensely grateful. (The Nancy Drew story is dangerously close to turning has become unbearably treacly, friends.) Klobuchar makes reference to a few particularly delightful Supreme factoids, such as Justice O'Connor's early life on a ranch (where she rode horses, branded cattle, and presumably weighed in on tough cases, like whether beef was, in fact, what was for dinner, or under what standard pork could be considered "the other" white meat). Sen. Klobuchar makes some "it takes all kinds" remarks about the richness and diversity of - gasp! - the Senate Judiciary Committee itself. By way of illustration, she mentions that Senator Hatch is a fervent devotee (and writer of) gospel music, while Senator Leahy is an inveterate fan of the Grateful Dead. Is it Clerquette's imagination, or did Amy Klobuchar just juxtapose, with crystal clarity, the hopeless stodginess of the Republican party and the slightly crunchy coolness of the Dems?
Sen. Klobuchar focuses on the accomplishments of women (i.e., Supreme predecessors O'Connor and Ginsburg) and, in this blogress's opinion, strikes the right note -- less "wise Latina woman" and more "I am woman, hear me roar, express my understanding of frontline law enforcement, and opine on the Fourth Amendment, the Confrontation Clause, and Sentencing law and policy. You go, girl!
2:16: Senator Ted Kaufman (D-Delaware) breaks new ground by praising Judge Sotomayor and her splendiferous apotheosis to the status of Nominated One, and dances delicately around the issue of government regulation of big businesses. As the Senator from Delaware, Mr. Kaufman, couldn't you have chosen something a bit less controversial to your constituents, like abortion?
2:19: The famously crotchety Senator Arlen Specter (D[ish]-Pa)takes the floor. He laments the shrinking docket of the High Court, and launches into a deliciously nerdy disquisition on circuit splits and the topic of standing: the silent killer [of cert petitions]. Specifically, Sen. Specter asserts, the court shoulda, coulda heard a recent warrantless wiretapping case. Their failure to do so seems to fill Sen. Specter with genuine disappointment. Clerquette wonders if the Supremes feel like a bunch of meanies. Specter asks whether Justice Sotomayor would allow cameras in the courtoom.
2:30: Senator-delayed Al Franken, the gentleman from Minnesota, takes the floor. Sen. Franken takes several minutes to greet his new colleagues. Everyone (this blogress included) appears to be waiting with bated breath for him to say something funny. C'mon, Al. Say something funny. Just do. Al? Alas, in the midst of Sen. Franken's maiden voyage into loftyland, there is a kerfuffle somewhere off-camera, in the back of the room. Sen. Leahy interrupts abruptly and asks the police to remove another heckler. Was there a Stuart Smalley comment?
Sen. Franken is slightly rattled. He rebounds, however, by pointing out SS's qualifications and her inspirational story. Franken points out that he is the most recently sworn member of the Committee, and (though he doesn't say so explicitly), the best conduit to the common folk, all of whom have a "huge stake" in who sits on the Supreme Court. Franken also has a great deal of [recent] experience with lawyers, and, honey: he knows lawyers.
In essence, he says, he is not in favor of judicial activism. But he would like to remind us that the Supreme Court is the last resort for [insert characteristics of downtrodden groups here]. Voters, scorned employees, the economically depressed, putative Senators-elect: where would they go, if not to the empathetic justices of the high court? Franken wraps up before the music starts to play, promising to listen raptly as she discusses the appropriate balance between judicial activism and judicial restraint. Nothing funny is said. Crowd seems disappointed.
2:40: Senator Schumer spends several minutes recpaitulating his previously-expressed sentiments: we the live in the land of the free, this would not have happened anywhere else, something something four-score-and-seven years ago. Clerquette believes that this was a gratuitous expression of Schumer's inner Lincoln fantasy. Schumer engages in high-cringe description of SS's humble beginnings as she sits at his elbow, looking frozen.
2:45: New Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) enjoys a moment in the sun. Clerquette wonders if she still has that new-Senator smell. Clerquette also finds her shiny jacquard jacket indicative of a bit too much effort, perhaps? Gillibrand is interrupted in the middle of a overly long speech. Her time has run out, and Sen. Leahy grunts audibly when she asks for permission to finish her thought.
2:54: Finally, SS is sworn and takes the microphone. Looking infinitely more comfortable -- silence clearly does not suit the Supreme Diva-Elect!-- SS thanks the Senators and her mother. Camera pans to her mother, who looks as though she has been sent by Central Casting to fill the role of warm, tear-inducing, supportive mom.
SS quickly revisits her humble upbringing, her career trajectory, and her role in the Major League Baseball strike litigation. Go team! She announces her judicial philosophy: to wit, that the task of a judge is not to make the law, but to apply the law. (Take that, naysayers! Activist, schmacktivist.) SS then maintains that she is dedicated to the most faithful interpretation of, or "fidelity to" the rule of law. Following these bold statements, she concludes her remarks. Senator Leahy adjourns the hearing until 9:30 tomorrow morning. Judge Sotomayor leaves, looking cheerful. If high fiving occurred, it was not captured on camera.
Stay tuned, Groupies! We'll have more coverage tonight, and liveblogging resumes tomorrow!
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