Environmentalists Back Sotomayor Confirmation

The Senate Judiciary Committee today kicked off its confirmation hearings on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who is President Barack Obama’s choice to replace retiring Justice David Souter.

Sotomayor’s environmental record is somewhat limited, and environmental issues are not expected to be a major part of the Judiciary Committee’s weeklong proceedings. Nevertheless, environmental groups have come out strongly in favor of Sotomayor’s confirmation.

Judging from the text of a letter [pdf] signed by 60 national, regional, state and local environmental groups, and delivered last week to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and Ranking Member Jeff Sessions, many environmentalists are supporting Sotomayor not because she is pro-environment, but because they believe she is refreshingly impartial.

“Judge Sotomayor’s record evinces no clear bias in favor of or against environmental claims,” the letter says. “Instead, it reflects intellectual rigor, meticulous preparation, and fairness. Her record demonstrates a consistently balanced and thoughtful review of complex legal issues. She has interpreted and applied the laws as Congress intended and safeguarded constitutional rights.”

At a time when the Supreme Court has been drifting farther and farther to the right, and making far too many rulings that favor business expediency over sustainability, “intellectual rigor, meticulous preparation, and fairness” sounds like the right approach to many of the difficult environmental questions our nation is struggling to answer.

Also Read:

• Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor and the Environment
• Supreme Court Ends Worst Term Ever for Environmental Issues
• Racist and Sexist Coverage of Sotomayor Precedes Her Confirmation Hearings