International Law

The Sotomayor Tapes

Politico has obtained and published audio of appeal hearings presided over by U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

The tapes are a fascinating study of the appellate process.

For what its worth, I'm not hearing much at all in the way of the storied "temperament" issues regarding Justice Sotomayor, in spite of the headline of the Politico story that introduces the audio recordings, Court Tapes Show Blunt Sotomayor.

She appears to be an astute, informed and assertive judge, who asks challenging and probing questions that keep counsel on their toes - which, of course, is exactly what an appellate Judge ought to be doing.

In other words, the temperament storyline is yet another instance of a manufactured Republican talking point that now, quite properly, will bite the dust.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Full post as published by Wise Law Blog on July 18, 2009 (boomark / email).