In the brief time left in the questioning of Judge Sotomayor, can we get an Establishment Clause question? Maybe a holiday display dispute? Some Ten Commandments action? Legislative prayer concerns? When it's campaign time, we hear elected officials making lots of scary noises about these three things, but getting shy about it during confirmation hearings. If they break through on this last day, updates will be below…
UPDATE:
Senator Graham (R-SC) praises the judicial system of America by noting that justice rendered in military tribunals will be based on law and facts and not on biases or prejudices including religious prejudice. "It makes us better than them", he said.
In 3rd-round questioning, Senator Hatch (R-UT) asked Judge Sotomayor if she was aware of friend-of-the-court briefs filed by the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund when she was a member of its board. In one, according to Hatch, the argument was made that the First Amendment's guarantee of the free exercise of religion "undermined" a parental notification law. The Judge responded that she was not aware at the time that the brief was being filed, or the arguments in it. (Yeah, that's a stretch even for more my purposes, but got excited when I heard "exercise of religion"…)
