Here is the first indication of the lines of attack (as noted by Tom Goldstein earlier) that right wing groups will try to use against Sonia Sotomayor.
This statement just went up on the Judicial Confirmation Network’s website.
“Judge Sotomayor is a liberal judicial activist of the first order who thinks her own personal political agenda is more important than the law as written. She thinks that judges should dictate policy, and that one’s sex, race, and ethnicity ought to affect the decisions one renders from the bench.
“She reads racial preferences and quotas into the Constitution, even to the point of dishonoring those who preserve our public safety. On September 11, America saw firsthand the vital role of America’s firefighters in protecting our citizens. They put their lives on the line for her and the other citizens of New York and the nation. But Judge Sotomayor would sacrifice their claims to fair treatment in employment promotions to racial preferences and quotas. The Supreme Court is now reviewing that decision.
“She has an extremely high rate of her decisions being reversed, indicating that she is far more of a liberal activist than even the current liberal activist Supreme Court.”
So to sum up: Sotomayor is a liberal activist who rules based on identity (race, sex, etc.), not the law. She supports quotas. And her decisions have been reversed, and dig that she is both too liberal for the mainstream and (implicitly) that she may not be smart enough for the high court.
We’ll keep an eye on our many of these charges make their way into press write ups…