Wednesday, July 8, 2009

ABA Gives Judge Sotomayor its Highest Rating: "Well Qualified" to Serve on Supreme Court

The Blog of Legal Times (BLT) reports that Judge Sonya Sotomayor of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has been rated "well qualified," the highest possible rating, from the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. The committee's vote was unanimous. David Clark of the Jackson office of Bradley Arant, is one of the fifteen members of the committee.

I count David as a friend and consider him one of the best litigators in Jackson. He is well known as one of the leaders in the movement for "tort reform" in Mississippi, and was named a Legal Reform Champion by the American Tort Reform Association. Suffice it to say, he is a pro-business lawyer. I note this to respond to those who will say that the ABA is a "liberal" organization and therefore should not be considered neutral in the nomination process. It is also noteworthy that the ABA gave similar ratings to Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito when they were nominated by President Bush.

This endorsement of Judge Sotomayor should help to put to rest the stated concerns about whether she has the legal and personal skills necessary to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court. But I doubt that the Republicans will stop their opposition to her candidacy.

3 comments:

n said...

Not that anyone cares about my opinion, but I think Sotomayor is a good choice. Her "wise latina woman" comment doesn't bother me, and my general approval was confirned when I heard that some pro-abortion groups are actually concerned about her because they don't think she's pro-abortion enough.

In other words, she seems to have far-left and far-right people concerned in roughly equal measure, so that puts her right about in the middle by my math. In any event, I think she's capable of applying the law regardless of her personal feelings, which is all we ask, anyway.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't Leslie Southwick rated "Well Qualified" but that didn't stop the Democrats from attacking him.

Jim Craig said...

He was, indeed. Some Democrats attacked him, but Sen. Feinstein from my old home supported him and he was confirmed. That was an excellent pick.