Sessions Explains Why He'll Vote No On Sotomatyor

11:03 a.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to
approve Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor to be the first
Hispanic justice.
The committee voted 13-6 Tuesday morning to send Sotomayor's
nomination to the full Senate, where she's expected to be confirmed
easily next week.
Just one Republican, South Carolina's Lindsey Graham, joined
Democrats in voting for President Barack Obama's first high court
nominee. The panel's chairman, Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy,
called Sotomayor a restrained, fair and impartial judge who has not
favored any one group of people over another. But the top
Republican, Alabama's Jeff Sessions, said her speeches and some
rulings revealed beliefs that conflict with the idea of blind
justice and fidelity to the law.

10:43 a.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) - There's not much suspense as Supreme Court
nominee Sonia Sotomayor faces a Senate Judiciary Committee vote
today with the outcome all but assured.
Sotomayor is also a virtual lock to be confirmed by the full
Senate next week. But the committee's top two Republicans say
they'll vote against her. Alabama's Jeff Sessions says Sotomayor
will revert to judicial activism once she takes the bench. And
Chuck Grassley of Iowa says she didn't convince him during her
confirmation hearings that she'll be able to set aside personal
feelings and decide cases impartially.
Lindsey Graham is the only committee Republican who has said
he'll support Sotomayor.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)