Sotomayor avoids saying whether marriage should be issue for federal courts

Posted on July 18, 2009
Filed Under Uncategorized

Sen. Charles Grassley had a testy exchange Wednesday with Judge Sonia Sotomayor about the federal government’s authority over marriage law.

During the Iowa Republican’s second turn at questioning the Supreme Court nominee, Grassley referred to a 1972 Supreme Court decision, Baker v. Nelson, in which the justices declined to consider a gay-marriage case. He asked whether she thought federal courts lacked authority to hear civil-rights cases involving marriage.

Sotomayor said the issue is pending in several courts, before Grassley cut her off.

“I thought I was asking a very simple question,” he said.

He ticked off a list of cases Sotomayor had referenced as precedent during her testimony on Tuesday. “You said these are precedents,” Grassley continued, raising his voice. “Now, are you saying to me that Baker v. Nelson is not a precedent?”

“It’s not that I’m attempting not to answer your question, Senator Grassley,” she said.
Grassley interrupted again, “Why are you hedging on this?”

Finally, Sotomayor said it had been since law school that she had reviewed the case, prompting Grassley to move on to another topic.

See Sotomayor avoids saying whether marriage should be issue for federal courts
The Des Moines Register

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