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Judiciary Committee Approves Sotomayor

By the Associated Press

Posted Jul 28, 2009 11:09 AM CDT
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(AP) – The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to approve Sonia Sotomayor to be the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court. The committee voted 13-6 this morning to send Sotomayor's nomination to the full Senate, where she's expected to be confirmed easily next week. Just one Republican, South Carolina's Lindsey Graham, joined Democrats in the vote.

The panel's chairman, Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy, called Sotomayor a restrained, fair, and impartial judge who has not favored any one group of people over another. But the top Republican, Alabama's Jeff Sessions, said her speeches and some rulings revealed beliefs that conflict with the idea of blind justice and fidelity to the law.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy talks with Jon Kyl during the committee's markup vote on the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, July 28, 2009, on Capitol Hill.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy talks with Jon Kyl during the committee's markup vote on the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, July 28, 2009, on Capitol Hill.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, speaks during the committee's markup vote on the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, July 28, 2009, on Capitol Hill.
Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, speaks during the committee's markup vote on the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, July 28, 2009, on Capitol Hill.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans, John Cornyn, Lindsey Graham, Jon Kyl, and Chuck Grassley, participate in the committee's markup vote on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, July 28, 2009.
Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans, John Cornyn, Lindsey Graham, Jon Kyl, and Chuck Grassley, participate in the committee's markup vote on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, July 28, 2009.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Sonia Sotomayor, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the fourth day of her confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill, July 16, 2009.
Sonia Sotomayor, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the fourth day of her confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill, July 16, 2009.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 5 comments
Fondue
Jul 28, 2009 11:58 AM CDT
I'm surprised the anarcho-fascistic libertarians haven't thrown Lindsey under the bus.
alienvv
Jul 28, 2009 9:16 AM CDT
she is a racist, Castro is better...
Shannonals
Jul 28, 2009 8:37 AM CDT
Your waiting for a Republican President to save us C/K? Wasn't the last one good enough for you?

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Senate • Senate Judiciary Committee • Senate confirmation hearings • Lindsey Graham • confirmation hearings • US Supreme Court • Sonia Sotomayor

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