Sotomayor hearings: Grassley beats a dead horse but is honest about it

Before his second round of questions, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) told Judge Sonia Sotomayor that he did not want to be "beating a dead horse" but that he would anyway.

Then he proceeded to sift through Sotomayor's speeches. At one point, after reading Sotomayor's words about the law having to adapt to a changing society, he was candid, saying that he believed Sotomayor was saying that as a judge, she would twist the law in any way she sees fit.

"I don't think you'll say that," Grassley said. "But at least you know where I am coming from."

Sotomayor, in fact, did not say that. She said she did not believe the law should be used as a tool to usurp the role of other branches of government but that law adapts as technology and attitudes advance.

--James Oliphant

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Photo: Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, questions Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Credit: AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite