Sessions and Schumer defer on Sotomayor style

[July 13, 2009]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senators renewed partisan bickering Monday over whether Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor would render impartial justice as she stood on the cusp of a historic confirmation hearing.

"I think philosophically her statements indicate an approach to judging that is outside the mainstream," Sen. Jeff Sessions, senior Judiciary Committee Republican, said in a nationally broadcast interview. Appearing on another news show, Democrat Chuck Schumer declared: "She's not far left. She's not far right. She's mainstream."

The pair summed up what undoubtedly will be a central theme of confirmation hearings that were to be gaveled to order by 10 a.m. EDT in a large hearing room of the Hart Senate Office Building. Much of the initial time there will be consumed by speech-making by members of the panel chaired by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

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THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE.
AP's earlier story is below.

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The leading Judiciary Committee Republican is charging that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is "out of the mainstream" of legal thinking and has a very activist judicial profile.

Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama made the assertion just hours before Sotomayor, who would be the third woman to join the court, was to face her initial confirmation hearing.

Sessions also said on CBS's "The Early Show" that he thought the native New York appeals court judge deserves a fair hearing. He quickly added that Republicans on the Judiciary panel won't hesitate to question her closely on her judicial philosophy.

[Associated Press; By MARK SHERMAN]

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