Senate Proceeding 08-05-09 on Aug 5th, 2009 :: 0:34:50 to 0:39:45
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0:34:34 to 0:34:56( Edit History Discussion )

Olympia Snowe: have come to live their lives and and overruling these precedents would simply roll back of precedence. therefore, central to the question of thisee's judicial philosophy are her views on the corn stones of jurisprudence -- that is, judicial precedent.

0:34:50 to 0:39:45( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Olympia Snowe

0:34:57 to 0:35:17( Edit History Discussion )

Olympia Snowe: in our june meeting, i asked her whether she agreed with chief justice rehnquist's observation in dirkson v. united states which upheld the famous decision miranda v. arizona. there the chief justice wrote that there are situations where constitutional precedence that a justice might believe had been wrongly decided should be upheld because the people have accepted

0:35:18 to 0:35:38( Edit History Discussion )

Olympia Snowe: the principle of the decision as an embedded part of our national culture. judge sotomayor agreed with decision. in adherence to applying the precedent has achieved significance in many casually contested areas of the law such as the second amendment which brings plea to the concerns raised by judge sotomayor's

0:35:39 to 0:35:59( Edit History Discussion )

Olympia Snowe: decision in maloney v. cuomo. mr. president, i happen to be a strong, longtime defender of the second amendment rights, as evidenced by my amicus support for mr. heller in his recent case before the supreme court in district of columbia v. heller. accordingly, i am very well aware that the issue of whether second amendment protections are

0:36:00 to 0:36:21( Edit History Discussion )

Olympia Snowe: to against acts of a state government as opposed to the federal government has assumed renewed importance since the court's recent landmark decision ruling in heller. i also understand that several long-standing court precedents have been state and federal courts around the country, including the supreme judicial court, not to

0:36:22 to 0:36:43( Edit History Discussion )

Olympia Snowe: incorporate the second amendment. judge sotomay cuomo and her two panelists stated that those consistent interpretations of the supreme court's precedent were binding upon them and while a panel in the ninth circuit in nor dick v. king recently bypassed such precedent, a seventh circuit

0:36:44 to 0:37:04( Edit History Discussion )

Olympia Snowe: panel led by judge shackly criticized the senatordike decision for doing so and i instead they agreed with judge sotomayor's onion because they, too, concluded that supreme court's precedent was bientdzing upon them. and just last week the full ninth circuit itself agreed to reconsider its decision in the nordike decision.

0:37:05 to 0:37:26( Edit History Discussion )

Olympia Snowe: the supreme court may well revisit this issue soon. but the issue before us in the senate right now is whether the judge has demonstrated, as she describes, fidelity to the law. and the precedent as we would expect. because several long-standing been widely construed by state

0:37:27 to 0:37:47( Edit History Discussion )

Olympia Snowe: and federal courts alike not to incorporate the second amendment and footnote 3 of the heller majority opinion expressly said, the court was not deciding the incorporation in question. moreover, given her demonstrated adherence to star redesighs while no one can predict the future with certainty, it is

0:37:48 to 0:38:09( Edit History Discussion )

Olympia Snowe: reasonable to conclude that she will continue to follow predent, as also evidenced by her testimony to the judiciary committee when she stated, and i quote, "the supreme court did hold that there is in the second amendment on individual's right to bear arms and that is its holding and that is the court's decision. i fully accept " end quote.

0:38:10 to 0:38:30( Edit History Discussion )

Olympia Snowe: finally, what are powerful and profound message it will send to have judge sonia sotomayor join with justice ruth bader ginsburg on the highest court in the land. the fact is it does make a difference who women and girls see at the pinnacles of government, st as it matters in all fields of endeavor.

0:38:31 to 0:38:51( Edit History Discussion )

Olympia Snowe: as justice recently, "my basic concern above being all alone w the public got the wrong perception of the court. it just doesn't look right in the year 2009." it matters for women to be there at the conference table to be doing everything that the court does. women belong in all places where decisions are being made."

0:38:52 to 0:39:12( Edit History Discussion )

Olympia Snowe: en mr. president, given the totality of the record before us, i have concluded sonia sotomayor's regarding both her judicial methodology and her judicial philosophy that she is no predisposed to overturning the precedent. obviously none of us can know with certainty how judge

0:39:13 to 0:39:35( Edit History Discussion )

Olympia Snowe: sotomayor would vote on any particular case. but we can assess her methodology, herrage in approaching cases by reviewing her and to other members throughout this process. in that light, mr. president, aninevaluating the essential qualific outlined them and in reviewing the entire judicial record of

0:39:36 to 0:39:46( Edit History Discussion )

Olympia Snowe: judge sotomayor, i fin a fair-minded judge with a deep respect for the rule of law and the independence of the courts and the judicial method committed to stability in the law enforcement it is therefore