Top Ten Questions for Judge Sotomayor

Choose One:

Question 1: Under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, all legislative power belongs to Congress.  The judiciary is given no legislative role.  Do you believe that this is and continues to be the appropriate structure for our government?

Question 2: What did you mean when you said in 2005 that “the Court of Appeals is where policy is made?”

Question 3: In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court “found” the right to abortion in the due-process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.  Strong disagreement on this issue continues to abound.  Do you think the role of the Supreme Court is to settle public debates?  Do you agree with the plurality opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey that when the Supreme Court has decided a debated question, the contending sides should accept that resolution and go home?

Question 4: Do you believe that Roe v. Wade is an “established precedent,” or, in other words, “settled law?”

Question 5: You have expressed support for maintaining “settled law.”  What if a case becomes “unsettled” or refined by subsequent rulings, as in the case of Roe v. Wade?  When is it appropriate to overturn a precedent?

Question 6: While you were a board member of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF), the Fund repeatedly argued that abortion was a “fundamental right” and that any state limits on abortion should be examined with strict scrutiny.  How can abortion be a “fundamental right” if it is not found in the text of the Constitution and was never recognized as a right in American history prior to Roe v. Wade?

Question 7: Do you agree with Justice Souter that strict scrutiny need not apply to common-sense regulations of abortion, such as informed-consent and parental-involvement laws, or do you agree with the PRLDEF that none of these laws are Constitutional?  In other words, do you agree with the Fund that it violates the Constitution for a state to give women all available information about abortion and potential risks to their health?  And do you agree with the Fund that it violates the Constitution for a state to require parental involvement in a child’s abortion decision?

Question 8: Do you agree with Justice Souter that the Constitution does not require the use of taxpayer dollars for abortions, or do you agree with the PRLDEF that taxpayer funding of abortion is Constitutionally required?

Question 9: Is the question of when human life begins a scientific or a religious question?

Question 10: It has been reported that in an interview with a U.S. senator, you stated that you had never thought about whether an unborn child has constitutional rights.  Is that a correct representation of what you said?  Would you care to clarify?  Furthermore, are there any other groups of human beings whose rights, or lack thereof, you have never considered?

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