Senate Proceeding 08-04-09 on Aug 4th, 2009 :: 5:40:10 to 5:44:20
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5:40:01 to 5:40:21( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: applaud her public service. but in the end her record creates too many conflicts with fundamental principles about the judiciary which i deeply believe. it did not have to be this way. president obama could have taken a very positive step for our country by choosing nominee whom all senators could

5:40:10 to 5:44:20( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Orrin Hatch

5:40:22 to 5:40:44( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: support. president obama could have done so and i regret that he did not. i commend the d chairman and ranking member of the judiciary committee, senators leahy and sessions for conducting a fair and thorough confirmation hearing. judge sotomayor herse hearing was

5:40:45 to 5:41:05( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: as she could have asked for. i evaluate judicial nominees by focusing on qualifications which include not only legal experience but, more importantly, judicial philosophy. judge judging is more important to me than her i ask consent to put in the record following my remarks an

5:41:06 to 5:41:27( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: article i published early this year in the law and public policy entitled "constitution is the play for judicial selection," and explains the principles i will mention here. president obama has described the kind of judge he appoint. as a senator he said the judges decide cases based on their

5:41:28 to 5:41:49( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: "deepest values, core concerns, broader perspective and depth and breadth of their empathy." as a presidential candidate he pledged to appoint judges who, indeed, have empathy for certain groups. and as president he has said a judge's personal empathy is single ingredient in judicial decisions.

5:41:50 to 5:42:11( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: this standard is seriously out of sync with mainstream america. by more than believe that judges should decide cases based on the law as written rather on their own sense of fairness or justice. the american people reject president obama's standard for the judge we need on the bench.

5:42:12 to 5:42:33( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: at the judiciary committee hearing, judge sotomayor said that her judicial philosophy simply "fidelity to the law." while some of my democratic committee colleagues said that they wanted to avoid code words and phrases, she appare face value. unfortunately, it begs rather

5:42:34 to 5:42:55( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: thanwe the important question: some senators on the other side of the aisle try to confine concerns about judge sotomayor's record to a single case and phrase. that spin, i admit, quotable sound observer knows this political spin is simply not true.

5:42:56 to 5:43:16( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: ironically those who would narrowly characterize the case against confirmation, want to us con fine our examination of judge sotomayor's record only to her cases while ignoring her speeches and articles. a partial review, however, cannot provide a complete picture. appeals court decisions that are bound by supreme court precedent

5:43:17 to 5:43:38( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: are not the same as supreme court decisions freed constraints. taking judge sotomayor's entire record seriously, not only gives us more of the information need,ut also gets her the respect she deserves. debates over judicial nominations are debates over judicial p and america's

5:43:39 to 5:44:00( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: founders gave us solid guidance about the proper role of judges in our system of government. judges interpret written law to decide cases. while judges cannot change the words of our laws, they can still control statutes and the constitution by controlling the

5:44:01 to 5:44:20( Edit History Discussion )

Orrin Hatch: meaning of those words. that would result in the rule of judges but not rule of to borrow judg sotomayor's phrase, judges will not have any dlnot havefidelity to themselves.