| On Thursday, Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed by the U.S. Senate, becoming the first Hispanic justice to sit on the Supreme Court and the third women to do so. The historic vote has plenty of angles to cover, but those will be talked about a lot over the next several days and weeks.
The interesting part of the vote was how closely it resembled Sotomayor's 1998 confirmation vote to become a member of the U.S. 2nd District Circuit Court. That vote was 67 to 29, with all 29 nay votes being cast by Republicans.
In 1998, these Republicans supported Sotomayor's appointment to the Circuit Court.
Bennett (R-UT), Campbell (R-CO), Chafee (R-RI), Coats (R-IN), Cochran (R-MS), Collins (R-ME), D'Amato (R-NY), DeWine (R-OH), Domenici (R-NM), Frist (R-TN), Grams (R-MN), Gregg (R-NH), Hatch (R-UT), Helms (R-NC), Jeffords (R-VT), Lugar (R-IN), Mack (R-FL), Murkowski (R-AK), Roth (R-DE), Santorum (R-PA), Smith (R-OR), Snowe (R-ME), Specter (R-PA), Stevens (R-AK), Warner (R-VA)
Since 1998, some of these senators are no longer in office. But of the remaining senators from this list that voted for Sotomayor in 1998, these are the senators that supported Sotomayor:
- Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
- Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)
- Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN)
- Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
(Note: Because of Specter's switch to the Democratic Party, I didn't count him as one of the Republican votes.)
In 2009, the 68 to 31 vote to confirm Sotomayor was not as bi-partisan. In 1998, Sotomayor was backed by 25 Republicans. On Thursday, Sotomayor was backed by nine Republicans.
We know that Supreme Court nominees tend to bring out the best in partisanship, depending on the party of the president at the time. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) made it a point to say that he had not voted against any Supreme Court nominee. Yet, he did vote against Sotomayor before. He opposed her appointment in 1998 and was one of the 29 votes. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who supported Sotomayor in 1998, voted against her in 2009.
Aside from Senators Collins, Gregg, Lugar and Snowe, the other five Republicans to back Sotomayor were:
- Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
- Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO)
- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
- Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL)
- Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH)
Of the four, only Bond was a senator in 1998. He actually didn't cast a vote for or against Sotomayor that time around. But with Bond on the verge of retirement, a yea vote wasn't surprising. The same can be said of Martinez, who announced his resignation today and had said previously that he was going to retire. Alexander, who is also on his way out, wasn't too surprising.
The polarizing of the process that is the selection of a Supreme Court justice is disappointing, but a reality we must face. Having senators who once supported Sotomayor at other levels of the judicial system only to vote against her because she was an appointment to the Supreme Court shows just how politicized the process is. The irony is, of course, that we expect these justices to be fair and unbiased and yet, the process to pick them is less than fair and has politics all over it. |
