It was a battle of wits between GOP Sen. Tom Coburn, one of the most conservative senators, and the nominee. Who won? Tell us: @reply us on @AP_Courtside on Twitter.
Here's a capsule: Coburn, a strong advocate of individual gun ownership, found an intriguing way to question Sotomayor on that issue. First, he asked her how she could consider that the right to privacy (not mentioned in the Constitution) is settled law but the right to keep and bear arms (the Second Amendment) as unsettled.
Sotomayor started with her usual answer that judges don't make law. And she noted that the federal government and many states have laws restricting guns, such as possession of firearms by felons. Then the sparing got more interesting.
"Do I have a right to personal self-defense?" Coburn asked.
Sotomayor: "That's an abstract question."
Coburn: "That's what the public wants to know. Yes or no? Do we have that right?"
The judge thought for a moment, then came up with an answer based on her experience as a New York City prosecutor: "If there's a threat of serious injury you can use force. How imminent is the threat? If the threat is in this room and I go home get a gun and come back and shoot you, that may not be legal under New York law."
Coburn: "What the American people want to see is what your gut says."
Sotomayor said that's not how judges decide cases.
-Larry Margasak, AP reporter, Congress
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_pl699
Here's a capsule: Coburn, a strong advocate of individual gun ownership, found an intriguing way to question Sotomayor on that issue. First, he asked her how she could consider that the right to privacy (not mentioned in the Constitution) is settled law but the right to keep and bear arms (the Second Amendment) as unsettled.
Sotomayor started with her usual answer that judges don't make law. And she noted that the federal government and many states have laws restricting guns, such as possession of firearms by felons. Then the sparing got more interesting.
"Do I have a right to personal self-defense?" Coburn asked.
Sotomayor: "That's an abstract question."
Coburn: "That's what the public wants to know. Yes or no? Do we have that right?"
The judge thought for a moment, then came up with an answer based on her experience as a New York City prosecutor: "If there's a threat of serious injury you can use force. How imminent is the threat? If the threat is in this room and I go home get a gun and come back and shoot you, that may not be legal under New York law."
Coburn: "What the American people want to see is what your gut says."
Sotomayor said that's not how judges decide cases.
-Larry Margasak, AP reporter, Congress
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_pl699
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