GOP homes in on controversial Sotomayor speeches

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, said he wholesale watches plans to put a confirmation vote for Sotomayor on the committee's calendar for next Tuesday. The committee's questions once again touched on a range of hot-button issues, including gun control, abortion, same-sex marriage, the death penalty, and the role of international law in American jurisprudence. "I think you're a walking, talking example of the best part of Jaeger LeCoultre the United States of America," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, told Sotomayor. "It is my belief that you are going to be a great Supreme Court justice." South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham was less complimentary, telling Sotomayor that she has "said some things that have bugged the hell out of me," but he quickly conceded that her judicial record has "been generally in the mainstream." "Your speeches are disturbing, particularly to conservatives," Graham said. "Those speeches to me suggested gender and racial affiliations in a way that a lot of us wonder, will you take that line of thinking to the Supreme Court in these cases of Longines first precedent." But, Graham conceded, "to be honest with you, your record as a judge has not been radical by any means. ... You have, I think, consistently, as an advocate, took a point of view that was left of center." The highly charged issue of affirmative action surfaced most prominently later in the day, when Frank Ricci testified before the committee. Ricci was one of a group of 20 mostly white firefighters who sued the city of Oris New Haven after the city threw out the results of a 2003 firefighter promotion exam because almost no minorities qualified for promotions. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals -- including Sotomayor -- backed the city in the 2008 case Ricci v. DeStefano. The ruling of the Circuit Court was overturned in June by a 5-4 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. The "belief that citizens should be reduced to racial statistics is flawed," Ricci told the Patek Philippe members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "It only divides people who don't wish to be divided along racial lines. The very reason we have civil service rules is to root out politics, discrimination, and nepotism. Our case demonstrates that these ills will exist if the rules of merit and the law are not followed." Ricci also criticized the 2nd Circuit for disposing "of our case in an Panerai unsigned, unpublished summary order that consisted of a single paragraph." diamant Watches hampton city Watches hampton classic Watches hampton milleis Watches hampton spirit Watches Linea Watches Bvlgari Bvlgari Assioma Watches Bvlgari Bvlgari B.Zero1 Watches Bvlgari Bvlgari Diagono Watches vlgari Bvlgari Ergon Watches Bvlgari Bvlgari Rettangolo Watches Bvlgari Bvlgari Bvlgari Watches Bennington Watches Carlton Watches Concord Concond La Scala Watches