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White House Conference Call on Judge Sotomayor

By Jeralyn

Update: Here's the official White House statement on Judge Sotomayor's nomination.

The White House held a conference call for legal media today on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. I was on the fairly short (1/2 hr) call.

The call was led by Ron Weich, Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs, who was an advisor to President Obama during the selection process. He made a brief statement and then took questions. Summary below: [More...]

President Obama interviewed four candidates personally, as did VP Joe Biden. He chose Judge Sotomayor because of:

1. Her intellectual capacity and legal acumen, outstanding academic record, successful record as DA, in private practice and as a judge on the district court and court of appeals.

2. Her approach to judging. From reading her opinions and writings, he recognized her legal precision and craftsmanship. He was also impressed by her ability to win over colleagues on the Second Circuit.

3. Her personal story, that shows her life experience.

Q and A: On the New Haven firefighters affirmative action case: She applied the law of Second Circuit to the case before her.

Michael Froomkin, Discourse.net: At what point does the attack on her credentials become racism? Answer: They will be strong in defending her credentials on the merits. Her credentials are not just good or excellent but outstanding. She has more experience than anyone since Justice Cardozo.

Adam Bonin, Daily Kos: What types of questions did he ask those he interviewed? Answer: He asked about their approach to judging, how they make decisions, how they work with judges appointed by republican presidents, how they went about convincing those judges to come over to their view.

Weich mentions Janet Napolitano, Elena Kagan and Diane Wood as others Obama personally met with.

About her remark about latino women: It was a single sentence...judges are inevitably the product of their experience and the broader your experience, the more you bring to your judging. Her context is clear a few sentences later.

On the timing of Obama's decision. He had her in mind from the start. He interviewed her on Thursday of last week. He ran a thorough process. She was always at top of the list but he didn’t reach a final decision until Monday.

Reporter from Washington Post asks about her experience as a prosecutor in New York. Weich says she showed a concern for rigorous justice and respect for crime victims. Same for her time as a trial court judge. She brings a hands-on quality to her judging experience.

Dahlia Lathwick: Did Obama open the door to her as being overly emotional? Answer: All judges’ real world experiences affect their judgment. President Obama wants someone who will apply the law and who believes in judicial restraint. Judge Sotomayor does.

The end.

Weich didn't give suggestions on how to rebut Republican criticism of Sotomayor. He sounded confident that Obama made the right choice and didn't seem particularly concerned about attacks on her or challenges to her confirmation. He said their goal is to get her out in front of the American people.

I was glad to see the call was led by Weich. I got to know him when we both served on the ABA Criminal Justice Section Council and were on the same side in opposing mandatory minimum sentences, the crack-powder cocaine penalty disparity and the overly tough guidelines for many drug offenses. (Here's one of the many transcripts of his testimony on these issues.) He is really smart and a straight shooter. More on him here.

Even though Judge Sotomayor's rulings in specific criminal cases didn't come up in Obama's announcement today, and he stressed her prior experience as a prosecutor, I think Weich's role as an advisor in the process signals she'll be forward-thinking on sentencing issues.

I really like this nomination.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on May 26, 2009 (boomark / email).