Republican: Sotomayor had ties to extreme group
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press
Sotomayor worked for a far left group
The top Republican on the Senate committee that will consider Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination says a Puerto Rican civil rights group’s papers could shed light on her judicial approach, particularly her view of racial preferences in hiring.
White House Counsel Greg Craig, however, told Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., in a letter that board meeting minutes and other papers detailing the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund’s activities while Sotomayor was an outside adviser shouldn’t impact her nomination because she had no role in writing or approving them.
“During her time there, the organization took extreme positions on legal issues ranging from the death penalty to abortion to racial quotas,” Sessions said in a statement. He said it was “absurd” for the White House to call the documents irrelevant.
