Sotomayor Gets ABA's Highest Rating, Unanimously

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor earned a "well-qualified" rating from the American Bar Association on Tuesday as she prepared for Senate hearings next week.

The ABA committee that reviewed her qualifications came out with that unanimous rating of the federal appeals court judge and released it in a letter to White House lawyer Greg Craig.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to begin hearings Monday on President Barack Obama's choice to replace retired Justice David Souter.

Sotomayor has been rated twice before by the ABA _ as a trial judge and appellate judge.

As a U.S. District Court nominee, she was deemed "qualified" by a substantial majority of the committee and "well qualified" by a minority. The last time the ABA reviewed Sotomayor's qualifications _ when she was up for the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals _ a majority rated her "well qualified," but that was not unanimous.

For more than 50 years, the ABA has evaluated the credentials of nominees for the federal bench, though the nation's largest lawyers' group has no official role in the process. Supreme Court nominees get the most scrutiny.

"The American Bar Association's unanimous, well-qualified rating of Judge Sotomayor is further evidence of the outstanding experience she will bring to the Supreme Court," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who heads the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"The ABA's rating _ an evaluation of integrity, professional competence, and judicial temperament _ should eliminate the doubts of naysayers who have questioned Judge Sotomayor's disposition on the bench."

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ABA ratings are "well-qualified," "qualified" and "not qualified." The committee's members interview hundreds of colleagues _ confidentially _ and scours pages of a nominee's writings before coming up with the rating.

"The ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has completed its evaluation of the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor and is of the unanimous opinion that Judge Sotomayor is 'well-qualified' for appointment as an associate justice to the United States Supreme Court," said Kim J. Askew, the committee's head.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito also got unanimous a "well-qualified" rating from the ABA before their Senate hearings.

White House lawyer Harriet Miers, nominated to the high court by President George W. Bush, withdrew before the ABA released its rating.

The ABA had a rocky relationship with Bush. In 2001, Bush ended the ABA's preferential role in checking prospective judicial nominees and decided the administration would not give the group advance word on names under consideration.

Conservatives had been bitter ever since the ABA's mixed review of the qualifications of failed Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork in the Reagan administration.

In March, the Obama administration asked the ABA to resume its historical role in evaluating judicial nominees.

___

On the Net:

ABA committee: http://www.abanet.org/scfedjud/

Comments

[dancucich]

Fraternal order of police endorse Sonia
Here's The final nail in the coffin of the anti-confirmation kooks:

The Fraternal Order of Police and other law-enforcement organizations convened to reiterate their support for Sotomayor.

The law enforcement endorsements coincided with the release of a Senate Judiciary Committee study showing that as an appellate judge, Sotomayor voted to affirm 92 percent of the criminal convictions that came before her.

A one-time New York City prosecutor and trial judge, Sotomayor nearly always sided with Republican appointees in criminal cases that the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals considered, the study shows. She sat with Republican-named judges on more than 400 criminal cases as an appellate judge, and agreed with all Republican appointees 97 percent of the time.

Appellate panels on which Sotomayor served reversed only 2 percent of convictions. Among their affirmation rates: cases involving illegal firearms, 98 percent; drug offenses, 93 percent; criminal immigration violations, 92 percent; and economic crime, 93 percent.

''It is clear that she weighs the facts in evidence and makes her rulings based on the merits of the case,'' said Chuck Canterbury, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police. ``She is a model jurist: tough, fair-minded and mindful of the constitutional protections afforded to all U.S. citizens.''

[roshni]

This is a substantive and significant vote of confidence. The ABA, rightly, gave Clarence the lowest score. I don't and will never respect Clarence as a jurist.

[OnReflection]

Sonia Sotomayor will be the best Supreme Court Justice in the history of the United States,

and yes this will be a different country one step closer to closing the gap between this nations ideals and the every day reality, a great day for every one of all backgrounds, when we will able to say one people one America.

And for those those who have criticized her unmercifully this new reality may not be for you!

You can leave anytime, no tears will be shed for you, your kind has brought nothing but hate, division and misery, good riddance!!

[SCAngie]

Dr. Steve Pesyk- Not sure when having a little pride in your ethnic background became such a sin that you would be afraid to let your children and dog near such a person.

Really, I think it is your racism and negativity that you are projecting and it has little to nothing to do with the reality of Sonia Sotomayer as a person or a judge.

[dr-steve-pesyk]

Sonia Sotomayor has clearly reinforced her hateful and negatory statements on race.
America has been going down the tubes
and will be less free when Sotomayor is in office.
I would not vote her in as dog catcher, let alone Justice.
Neither would I want Sonia Sotomayor to talk to my kids - or dog.

[paganmist]

The sky is falling.

[1differentdrummer]

Negatory? Been off the cb radio long?

Your comment puzzles me since a whole bunch of lawyers disagree with you. I'm sure you can speak with authority about chiropractic but I gather you are not of the legal profession. Now, if you'd like to give cites for her offenses I might take you a little more seriously. Sounds kinda like bias to me.

[roshni]

We really care about your paranoia.

[FallenAngelII]

Her "hateful" statements on race? Which ones? The ones where she said that a Latino judge might have more insight into Latino matters than a non-Latino? How hateful!

Also, "negatory"?

[cjk002]

I'm a little confused about how he thinks he gets to vote for her...

[WestofSabine]

I understand she was also the leading contender and eventually won the coveted "Cara de Caballo" Award from the American Bar Asociation.

Fantastic woman!

[Bude]

The only people who don't approve are rich, white, Limbaugh loving men.

[WhoBenefitsFromThis]

It's pretty sad that her record speaks for itself and it is not enough for the party of "no".

On a tangent here, strategically, what are the Republicans trying to accomplish by being the party of "no". I mean if there was a good idea from the democrats (from a republican perspective), is the default answer: no? If we get past the rhetoric what is the republican vision of America if they had complete control? Would it be a theocracy that embraces the unchecked pursuit of profits? Would they really shrink government, throw out regulators and allow big business to self-regulate? If OSHA, the SEC, the FDA and other regulatory organizations go away in the name of small government, do we depend on the Wal-Mart's and Exxon's of the world to protect consumers and workers? On the flip side have democrats articulated exactly what their vision of America is? If the economy corrects itself in the long term, what is the vision that democrats have for America and does it make sense?

[lifesucks]

It's about time they came out and supported her.

SM would not have had to join any organizations if it weren't for the elitist good ole boy clubs that wouldn't let women in.

So you think a white man doesn't have the propensity to be racists - mmm... history might not support that opinion.

[hoopesaz]

Humans have a propensity to be racist. Latina women are not imune.

[TJCole]

That's the same Bar Association that's won't disbar John Yoo or Judge Bybee or Mukasey or Gonzales right..?

Who cares what a bunch of phonies..!

[JayLaw]

The American Bar Association is not in a position to disbar anyone. That can only be done by the state attorney regulators where an attorney is licensed.

[chicagojazzbaby]

Lawyer licensing and discipline is handled at the state level. The ABA is a national organization, and has, by the way, been a very vocal critic of torture and other policies by the previous administration. Please direct your anger to the state bar associations that have thus far taken no actiona agin Yoo, et. al.

[roshni]

The ABA does not have the authority to disbar anyone. They correctly called Clarence as an inferior jurist. They know what they are doing.

[saintaug1]

This is really a problematic choice. She's been shown to have racial bias and having been associated with radical left-wing PR group, just should not be a good choice for the Supreme court. She demonstrated questionable reasoning with the fire fighters and her associations with woman-only clubs. She is a product of affirmative action which more often than not, promotes identity over qualifications. There are plenty of other qualified women of all races that would be a better choice.

[pixiepotpie]

Hanniety, is that you?

[DonJM]

Clarence Thomas is also a product of affirmative action. Are you bothered by that?

[roshni]

Plus he is an inferior lawyer.

[smilodon1]

Ah, yes. Another uninformed comment by a republicanderthal. Dream on...

[hoopesaz]

I disagree with you just as I disagreed with the folks so opposed to Alito and Roberts. We're all displeased with judges who draw a different conclusion than we do. What matters is the qualifications and record. Do they have experience? Are they considered unbiased, intelligent, and respected by their peers? Are they considered fair and impartiale by attorney's who have gone before them? Are they thoughful and measured in their judgements?

Those are the criteria that are important to me. She clearly passes. Just as Alito and Roberts clearly passed.

[mmlk]

Uhh, you mean like Harriet Miers, maybe?

[Koreanovice]

WHEN IS THE HEARING?

[peacebro]

.
A court of diversity??

She will be the courts 6th Catholic

..not so bad necessarily, just intersting.

[openhand]

She just raised the bar.

[underthegun1]

Doesn't the ABA still approve of all the t.orture lawyers too?

[paganmist]

No, they don't.

Next?