Sen. Sessions: No "Political Attacks" On Obama's Court Pick
In a Washington Post op-ed, Sen. Sessions said he hopes his Republican colleagues won't "create a caricature" of President Obama's Supreme Court nominee.
Since replacing Sen. Arlen Specter as ranking Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions has avoided making any controversial statements about President Obama's upcoming Supreme Court pick. While other conservatives have tossed around the idea of a filibuster, Sessions, whose nomination to the U.S. District Court was rejected by the committee in 1986, has been consistent in his support for "majority vote for judges" except in "unusual circumstances." This morning, Sessions penned an op-ed in the Washington Post listing his expectations for the next Supreme Court justice -- unobjectionable qualities like impartiality, commitment to the rule of law, integrity and expertise. In addition, he wrote, "Senators should refrain from making political attacks on the nominee's character, leaking background materials or taking quotes out of context to create a caricature of the nominee." It's unclear, however, whether Sessions' Republican colleagues will fall in line. Sen. Orrin Hatch has already labeled potential nominee Sonia Sotomayor as "extremely liberal" and criticized another possible selection, Diane Wood, for being "so sympathetic to issues like abortion rights."
