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August 3, 2009 – Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson announced today that he will vote in favor of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court because her record shows she’s well qualified and will not push a personal agenda.
“I plan to support Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination for the U.S. Supreme Court,” Senator Nelson said today. “I think she will make an outstanding contribution to the Supreme Court. From my one-on-one meeting with her, watching her confirmation hearing, and after taking a hard look at her entire record, I believe she understands how essential it is to uphold the law and the Constitution, and not bring an agenda that would prompt her to make law.
“She’s well-qualified and has extensive experience, more than any other nominee. If you look at her record, and I have taken a close look, it shows she is not going to be an activist,” Senator Nelson said.
“It would be difficult to show from her decisions that she’s going to promote a personal agenda. Her record is evidence of her approach of judging cases with, as she said, ‘fidelity to the law,’” Nelson said. “As usual, and I saw this with previous Supreme Court nominations, political operatives feel passionately and want her confirmed or not confirmed. While I listened to both sides, what mattered more to me were the views of independent groups about Judge Sotomayor.
Senator Nelson noted that the Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary of the American Bar Association said: “Judge Sotomayor’s opinions show an adherence to precedent and an absence of attempts to set policy based on the judge’s personal views.” The non-partisan Congressional Research Service said of her: “Perhaps the most consistent characteristic of Judge Sotomayor's approach as an appellate judge has been an adherence to the doctrine of stare decisis (i.e., the upholding of past judicial precedents).”
Some have questioned Sotomayor’s position on the 2nd Amendment that guarantees an individual right to bear arms. Nelson noted that Judge Sotomayor’s respect for precedent is also evident in her rulings on 2nd Amendment issues, and that she has acknowledged the individual right to bear arms.
Nelson said that as he did with the John Roberts and Samuel Alito nominations, he will vote in favor of Judge Sotomayor when the Senate holds its confirmation vote sometime this week.
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