Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor chided members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who are lawyers, for politicizing the confirmation process, saying a nominee should be judged on qualifications.
She said lawmakers that graduated from law school should be educating people about the risk of perceiving judges as “partisan creatures,” saying that causes harm to the separate institutions.
“Think about how many people on the Judiciary Committee have graduated from law school and think of how many of them are acting. That to me is incredible,” Justice Sotomayor said during an event Wednesday hosted by the Ronald Reagan Institute celebrating retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
She also said the media should be doing a better job of explaining to the public how issues impact them — not making it all about politics.
“When I look at the news, I certainly don’t hear a lot of intelligent conversation explaining this issue as a nonpartisan issue, as one that is basic to our survival as a democracy,” Justice Sotomayor added.
Like Justice O’Connor, who was the first woman appointed to the high court, Justice Sotomayor made history becoming the first Hispanic appointed to the Supreme Court in 2009.
Her comments about inserting politics into the judicial process comes as Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, who was confirmed after a remarkably contentious confirmation battle last year, was in the audience at the event on Capitol Hill.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also joined Justice Sotomayor at the event, speaking about her time on the court with Justice O’Connor.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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