Sen. Sessions To Give Floor Speeches On Judiciary As GOP Prepares For Sotomayor Debate

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 18 Jun 2009 - 7:00 PDT

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Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Wednesday is expected to outline the Republican Party's vision for the judiciary and the kinds of judges the GOP supports for the Supreme Court in the first of a series of floor speeches, according to committee sources, Roll Call reports. Although the speeches are not directly targeted at Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Sessions said he hopes they will begin a "national dialogue" on the judiciary's role ahead of her confirmation hearing, which is scheduled to begin July 13.

Sessions is expected to give four to five speeches, which also will appear as opinion pieces in the Washington Times this week. His first speech will address his views on the foundation of a strong judiciary and judicial restraint. The later speeches will focus on President Obama's call for judges who display "empathy" and other issues, according to Roll Call. The committee source said the speeches "will address the fundamental issues that will be in play during the confirmation process" and "make the case for judicial restraint versus judicial activism."

According to Roll Call, part of Sessions' motivation for giving the speeches is to clarify the definition of terms like "judicial restraint," "activist judge" and "empathy standard," phrases that frequently arise in debates over judges but might not be widely understood among judicial outsiders and the general public. Senators are expected to question Sotomayor on such topics during her confirmation hearing, and Sessions aims to define the context of the terms before the hearings begin, Roll Call reports.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said that he is optimistic that Sotomayor's hearings will remain bipartisan and that Republicans would not attempt to derail them by boycotting the hearings. He added that he believes GOP senators will participate in the hearings despite their complaints that they have not had enough time to prepare (Stanton, Roll Call, 6/17).

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