Supreme Court Nominations
Joe Biden’s Sotomayor Comments Criticized as Foolish
Posted Jun 10, 2009 11:30 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Vice President Joe Biden’s comments yesterday supporting Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s law enforcement credentials has some critics suggesting he went too far.
Speaking yesterday at a White House event to showcase prosecutor and police endorsements for Sotomayor, Biden noted that the U.S. Supreme Court nominee has experience as a prosecutor, Politico reports. “As you do your job, know that Judge Sotomayor has your back as well. And throughout this nominating process, I know you’ll have her back,” Biden said.
“She gets it. … She gets what you do every single day, day in and day out. She gets that one drug dealer on a corner, one rapist in a park is one too many and can terrorize and devastate a neighborhood,” Biden said. “And she has a record to prove that she gets it.”
Some conservatives and one legal ethicist are criticizing Biden’s comments, the story says. “I think what Biden said was foolish,” said New York University law professor Stephen Gillers. “She’s not there to ‘have their back.’ She’s there to interpret the law as she sees fit. … Biden crosses the line when he starts representing to interest groups that she would be voting in their favor.”
Northwestern law professor Steven Lubet disagreed. “The fact that her supporters think she’s more disposed toward law enforcement does not suggest bias. Everybody’s in favor of law enforcement; no one’s opposed to law enforcement,” Lubet told Politico. “This lacks the sort of specificity that would suggest bias.”
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Comments
J.D.
Jun 10, 2009 11:41 AM CST
No one’s “opposed to law enforcement”? LOL. The organization Sotomayor is part of—La Raza—spends every hour of the day trying to prevent law enforcement.
Sotomayor’s La Raza doesn’t want illegal aliens deported in accordance with the law; they want mass non-enforcement, aka amnesty.
Sotomayor’s La Raza doesn’t want local law enforcement to take advantage of federal statutes that help with the enforcement of immigration laws.
Sotomayor’s La Raza supports sanctuary policies, aka anti-law-enforcement policies.
No, professor, not everyone is supportive of law enforcement.
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joe
Jun 10, 2009 12:49 PM CST
Joe Biden has to be the worst politician of all time. Why do people keep electing the goon.
The only think I give Biden credit on is he supports public transportation projects,
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P. Bryson
Jun 11, 2009 7:04 AM CST
I doubt Biden is worse than any other politician. He’s just enough of a motormouth to reveal it.
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Matteo
Jun 11, 2009 8:48 AM CST
Geez - Last I checked, she was nominated for SCOTUS, not running for district attorney.
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OFIGUY
Jun 11, 2009 11:09 AM CST
As Joer Joer Bidenks, my apologies to George Lucas, continues to run around the country blowing hisa moutha offa, I can only pray that nothing happens to Pres. Obama. I cringe to think of how dire our situation would be if he were to become Prez.
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T.R.
Jun 11, 2009 12:50 PM CST
This is one of Biden’s “when keeping it real goes wrong” moments. His remarks, facially, are actually probably just obvious—as she was a prosecutor and probably does empathize with those sentiments somewhat. Still, they don’t help her SC nomination case. Fortunately, the Vice President’s mouth misfires so much that no one really takes that stuff seriously. So in that regard, Joe is kinda brilliant.
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Phlip
Jun 11, 2009 1:30 PM CST
I get what Biden was driving at, which was a political statement, the kind pols make all the time.
It’s just that he can’t do anything without a gaffe.
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Paul the Magyar
Jun 11, 2009 6:56 PM CST
Why do neo-cons have to resort to lies to make their points?
From the La Raza webpage (http://www.nclr.org/content/viewpoints/detail/42500/):
The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) – the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States – works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans.
Unfortunately, NCLR has been called an “open-borders advocate” and the “illegal alien lobby” numerous times. NCLR has repeatedly recognized the right of the United States, as a sovereign nation, to control its borders. Moreover, NCLR has supported numerous specific measures to strengthen border enforcement, provided that such enforcement is conducted fairly, humanely, and in a nondiscriminatory fashion.
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B. McLeod
Jun 11, 2009 9:53 PM CST
Because they don’t have any real facts?
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Dan the Man
Jun 12, 2009 7:18 AM CST
So Paul, when you say “provided such enforcement is conducted…in a nondiscriminatory fashion”, are you implying boarder patrol should not, for example, racially profile the all lthe atino folks making a break for it?
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Diamond Jim
Jun 12, 2009 9:15 AM CST
Didn’t Joe flunk the bar exam four times?
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Paul the Magyar
Jun 12, 2009 9:49 AM CST
“So Paul, . . . are you implying boarder patrol should not, for example, racially profile the all lthe atino folks making a break for it?”
I am saying that the La Raza agenda, as stated by the organization, is for a fair and balanced immigration policy and there is nothing inherently racist about that.
It is clear that the neocons are just nit-picking a fight over Sotomayor because they have nothing better to do, nothing more to contribute. If she had angels wings and a halo, the neocons would claim she is somehow biased against wiccans. She will be the next Justice and all the pointless masturbatory carping will only be that much more froth around the mouths of the neocons.
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J.D.
Jun 16, 2009 1:09 PM CST
Yes, Paul the Gullible, as stated by La Raza, their position is very “fair and balanced.”
I’m sure the Nazis sold their platform with warm-sounding words as well.
But when you actually look at La Raza’s policies and their effort over the past decade, you see all of my comments at the top of this thread ring true.
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Green Card
Jun 23, 2009 9:52 AM CST
Comment removed by moderator.
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