How the Sotomayor Saga Could Help Progressives Take Back the Courts

Sotomayor's hearings shelved the stereotype that progressive judges rule based on their hearts and treat the Constitution as a play toy.

By Doug Kendall and Simon Lazarus  

Originally published on the American Prospect's website.           

           

As Supreme Court experts rarely fail to point out, Sonia Sotomayor's accession to the Supreme Court this week will do little to shift future outcomes in hot button cases, because she will likely vote as did her predecessor, center-left Justice David Souter. Nevertheless, the confirmation ritual she has just completed could ultimately turn out to be a substantial plus for progressives. Her performance, and even more, statements by senators, especially Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy, could reposition progressives on and off the Court with a new vision that spotlights the Roberts Court's appetite for judicial supremacy and reactionary outcomes -- "unabashed law-making," as Justice John Paul Stevens recently put it.

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