Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) gave his remarks to the press after the first day of confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) makes remarks to the press after the first day of confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) tells Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor that he’d like to avoid code words and is looking for her to give a simple pledge to use the broad discretion of a Supreme Court Justice wisely. (0:31)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

“Show respect to our third branch of government,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), urging people to respect U.S. Supreme Court’s confirmation hearing of Judge Sonia Sotomayor regardless of whether people agree or disagree with the nomination. (0:37)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

By Mariko Lamb, Talk Radio News Service

Leading law enforcement and criminal justice officials joined Senate
Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in a press
conference Tuesday to endorse the confirmation of Judge Sonia
Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Sotomayor will “prosecute the guilty” and “protect the innocent,” said
Joseph Cassilly, President of the National District Attorneys
Association (NDAA).

“We’re not looking for any reassurance that she will be pro law
enforcement in all her decisions,” assured John Adler, President of
the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association. “We only ask and
fully expect that she remain loyal to the Rule of Law,” and not
succumb to the “self-righteous bullying of special interest groups,”
he explained.

Despite the controversy surrounding Sotomayor’s overturned rulings in
New York’s Second District Court of Appeals and questions about her
allegedly biased judgments, Sen. Leahy urged his fellow legislators,
and the public at large, to “show respect for [the] third branch of
government” and its nominee.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) says he’ll continue to urge his colleagues to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s appointment to the Supreme Court in a timely manner. He says the average number of days from nomination to confirmation for a Supreme Court Justice is 72 days and that he doesn’t expect the situation to be any different for Sotomayor. (0:54)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Sen. Cornyn (R-Texas) expresses his concern over Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s belief that the Second Amendment is a right that only applies to the federal government and not to cities and states. (0:33)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) says, “In cases that she decided Judge Sotomayor, earlier this year, rendered an opinion that held that the Second Amendment is not a fundamental right.” He says the question of whether or not it is a fundamental right is extremely significanct. (0:24)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

Republican Senators are objecting to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s interpretation of the Second Amendment.

“In her decision making process in cases that she decided, Judge Sotomayor, earlier this year, rendered an opinion that held that the Second Amendment is not a fundamental right,” said Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), referencing a ruling Sotomayor issued as a 2nd Circuit judge for the city of New York last year. The Supreme Court nominee determined that the Second Amendment did not apply to city and states, but only the federal government.

Sen. Jim DeMint argued during a press conference with fellow Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) Wednesday that if the Second Amendment does not apply to every American, then the Constitution no longer has any bearing on controlling the role of the federal government.

“It’s a very important question that goes… beyond the question of bearing arms but whether or not we are still a Constitutional Republic.”

The Senators reiterated their belief that the right for the people to keep and bear arms applies to all Americans and stated that they plan to ask Sotomayor questions about her interpretation of the Second Amendment during her confirmation hearings in July.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) says, “In cases that she decided Judge Sotomayor, earlier this year, rendered an opinion that held that the Second Amendment is not a fundamental right.” He says the fundamental right question is of real significance. (0:24)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download