One notable difference from last year’s confirmation hearings is Democrats’ aggressiveness today is putting forth their own (different) view of the role of a judge.
After the Sotomayor hearings, many progressive-oriented legal groups were angry that Democrats failed to use the hearing to criticize conservative legal principles and explain to Americans the real-world impact of the Court’s decisions.
That message came through loud and clear.
In fact, half of more of the Democrats’ time has been devoted to broader issues.
Just about every Democrat has spoken about one or more decisions and explained their impact on ordinary Americans. And many Democrats have argued strenuously that judges should consider the impact of their decisions, a sharp contrast to the Republican view of judicial decisionmaking.
Republicans have responded in kind, spelling out their view of the judges’ role and expressing concerns about judges who make the law.
We can expect more of this jousting in the week ahead
