Discussing The Hearing Process Of Judge Sonia Sotomayor

Today at 6 p.m. I will be participating in a conference call sponsored by the Heritage Foundation. This conference call will include South Carolina Senator Jim Demint and former Attorney General Edwin Meese of the Reagan years. We will be discussing the nomination process and hearings taking place today for President Obama’s selection as a replacement for Justice Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court – Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

I have yet to decide but I may attempt to live-blog that conference. If I don’t, I will update readers at the conclusion of the call. I am grateful to have been able to be a part of this call and I thank the Heritage Foundation, one of my all-time favorite organizations.

As most of you know, I have real concerns about Judge Sotomayor’s appointment to the Supreme Court. Among many reasons, her rulings have indicated to us that she sees very little relevance in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights as they pertain to states, cities and individuals. She recently ruled that the Second Amendment is a federal law that does not apply to the states, or cities such as Chicago, that, like Washington, D.C., has an outright ban on guns.

We know that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision in District of Columbia vs. Heller, that the Second Amendment guarantees the individual citizen the right to keep and bear arms. This doesn’t seem to have had much of an impact on Judge Sotomayor who still favors cities like Chicago being able to strip that right away from you and I.

This should concern every citizen of this country. Whether you support the right to keep and bear arms, it is more than troubling that a potential life-time appointee to the United States Supreme Court would hold such disregard for the Constitution. The fundamental glue that holds this country together is that judges, sworn to uphold the Constitution and to protect the rights of all citizens, rule according to the laws of this land not make up their own. For a judge to have disregard for that rule of law, claiming that states and cities have the right to create their own laws contrary to those guaranteed us under our Constitution, leaves us to ask if Judge Sotomayor believes any right guaranteed us has any Constitutional value?

For anyone to truly believe this can only make us ask, why do we even have a Constitution?

Tom Remington