Opinion: Sotomayor hearings: Two views of history

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Earlier today Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), painted this morning’s hearing on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor as an important moment on the arc of history. Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican, also said the hearings will have historical weight, but he cast their significance in a different way.

The legal system is at a dangerous crossroads, Sessions said. On one side is the “traditional” system, in which judges do not make law or set policy with their decisions, but rather do their best to impartially follow law. On the other side, he said, “is a system where judges push their own political or social agenda.”

Sessions said he would not support a nominee “who believes it is acceptable for a judge to allow their personal background, gender, prejudices to sway their decision in favor of, or against, parties before the court.”

-- Kate Linthicum

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