BJC Blog RSS Feeds
Home arrow Blog arrow Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings Day 4
Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings Day 4 E-mail
Written by Don Byrd   
Thursday, 16 July 2009

In the brief time left in the questioning of Judge Sotomayor, can we get an Establishment Clause question? Maybe a holiday display dispute? Some Ten Commandments action? Legislative prayer concerns? When it's campaign time, we hear elected officials making lots of scary noises about these three things, but getting shy about it during confirmation hearings. If they break through on this last day, updates will be below...

UPDATE:
Senator Graham (R-SC) praises the judicial system of America by noting that justice rendered in military tribunals will be based on law and facts and not on biases or prejudices including religious prejudice. "It makes us better than them", he said.

In 3rd-round questioning, Senator Hatch (R-UT) asked Judge Sotomayor if she was aware of friend-of-the-court briefs filed by the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund when she was a member of its board. In one, according to Hatch, the argument was made that the First Amendment's guarantee of the free exercise of religion "undermined" a parental notification law. The Judge responded that she was not aware at the time that the brief was being filed, or the arguments in it.  (Yeah, that's a stretch even for more my purposes, but got excited when I heard "exercise of religion"...) 

(See coverage of Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3)

 
 
Is the Endorsement Test on the Chopping Block?
The Supreme Court's decision earlier this week to take up the issue of legislative prayer for the first time in 30 years leaves many questions about the future of the government prayer balance. Veteran reporter Lyle Deniston considers what this decision likely means in a new essay for Constit...
 
State Department Issues Annual Religious Freedom Report
Yesterday, Secretary Kerry released the 2012 International Religious Freedom Report, a yearly update, mandated by Congress, on the status of religious freedom in every country in the world. You can read the report, and browse countries by name at this State Department site. Watch Secretary K...