WASHINGTON — In more than 14 years in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Jim Inhofe has yet to vote on a Democratic president’s nominee for the Supreme Court. He was still in the House when the Senate approved former President Bill Clinton’s two nominees, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer.
But the Tulsa Republican has already voted against Sonia Sotomayor, who on Tuesday got the nod from President Barack Obama to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter.
Inhofe was among 29 senators, all Republicans, who opposed Sotomayor’s nomination to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in October 1998.
Inhofe didn’t make a public statement about the nomination back then, but other Republicans had expressed concern about her "judicial activism.” A full Senate vote on her nomination was held up for months after the Judiciary Committee approved it.
On Tuesday, Inhofe said he had "great concern” about recent comments Sotomayor had made about "legislating from the bench.”
"In the months ahead, it will be important for those of us in the U.S. Senate to weigh her qualifications and character as well as her ability to rule fairly without undue influence from her own personal race, gender or political preferences,” he said.
Inhofe called Sotomayor’s personal life story — she was raised by her widowed mother in a public housing project in the Bronx — "truly inspiring” and said he looked forward to examining her judicial philosophy.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, who serves as a member of the Judiciary Committee, which will hold confirmation hearings on Sotomayor, said the federal appellate judge "deserves fair and open hearings and a dignified confirmation process.”
Coburn made clear in a brief statement that he’s looking for a justice "who will interpret the Constitution, not rewrite it based on ideology or personal opinion,” and he said senators’ views should be based on the nominee’s qualifications and "her commitment to interpreting the Constitution.”
from the oklahoman
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