Media Availability With Senator Richard Durbin Following His Meeting With Judge Sotomayor, Nominee To The Supremem Court

Press Conference

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SEN. DURBIN: I just had an opportunity to sit with Judge Sonia Sotomayor and to spend a half an hour talking about a variety of different things. I was really impressed by so many things.

We first -- I like to try to take the measure of these nominees on a personal basis, to some extent, and I talked about a common life experience that we had shared in losing our fathers at an early age. And she talked about growing up -- losing her dad at the age of 9 and the impact it had on her and he brother.

And then she talked about her mom, who had such a dramatic impact on her life and continues to, and how happy she is that her mom, in her 80s, is able to see this experience that she's going through and how far she's come. I talked about my life experience, which was similar, and how important a role my mother played in that, as well.

And she talked about things that we've read about -- her background. She wanted to make sure I understood that she was from a public housing project in the Bronx, that's where she was raised, but there were many, many different people who lived in that housing project. It wasn't just Latino or Hispanic, but Jewish and disabled vets and many different people whom she came to know over the years. So when we talk about the diversity in her background, it involves a lot of life experiences growing up.

I was impressed by her comments about going to Princeton, what a dramatic impact it had on her life to be thrust into that Ivy League school and to be forced to compete, and how it quieted her at first. She was stunned and worried, but then came to be not only competitive but one of the best students in her class when it was all over.

She talked about her work as a prosecutor, her work as a corporate litigator, of all of the things that you're all aware of.

I asked her about the "wise Latina" statement, which seems to have received more attention than almost anything she's said. And she said, "It's just one part of me." She said, "I'm many different things." And she said, "It -- basically it means that that's part of my life experience that I bring to my judgment." She said, "Maybe it means that with this background I'm a better listener; I listen for certain things." But she said, "Ultimately, it -- it's not going to decide any case for me. The law will make that decision; Constitution will be followed."

But every one of us is a sum of all the parts of our life experience.

And she mentioned that, of course, was important to her. She said race and gender don't take a back seat to good judgment when it comes to cases before her.

We talked about some of the aspects of the law that she had seen, and what she thought we needed more of. We talked about the need for more civic education in this country, so that people understand our system of justice -- and system of government, for that matter -- and how concerned she is about jurors in the courtroom and whether they really understand the system well enough to play their most important role, making the final decision on the fate of the parties that come before the court.

We talked about the corrections system in this country and my concerns, shared by Senator Jim Webb, that we need to have a group like a presidential commission take a hard look at this. And she said, "That is a good idea, and that is your job" -- (chuckles) -- and she's right. We need to be the ones to write the laws that she on the court, if she's fortunate, as I hope she will be, will need to follow.

In the end, I spoke to her about an issue which I've brought up to the Supreme Court nominees who've visited my office -- she's the fourth -- and talked to her about one of my heroes in America, a man by the name of Frank Johnson, who was a federal court judge in the 1960s in the South, who had the courage to stand up and give the marchers the legal authority to march from Selma to Montgomery.

He was not popular for that decision; in fact faced threats of violence because of it. But because of his uncommon courage, that march and the civil rights movement in many aspects was allowed to develop and unfold and to change this nation.

And I gave her the biography of Frank Johnson written by Jack Bass, which I think she said would be the first thing she read, after this was all over, because until then she has plenty of homework to do, to prepare for the hearings.

We talked about some of the senators she's going to see a little later on. And she asked me about them and what I thought of them. And I gave her a little insight into my colleagues. So it was a great meeting. I think the president has made an extraordinarily good choice for the Supreme Court.

This is a person of substance, of commanding intellect, a person who as an amazing background on the bench, someone who has served as a prosecutor, who has been in corporate litigation, someone whose life experience, I think, will be important, as she said, so that she listens and hears all the facts that will come before her.

I am pleasantly happy to count her as a person who's made a very positive impression, and I'm looking forward to the hearing.

Q Senator --

Q With regard to abortion, there's much -- folks on both sides of the debate say they -- (off mike) -- and they would like to know more. Did she do anything to illuminate her opinions on the issue?

SEN. DURBIN: I didn't ask a question on any specific issues.

Q Senator --

Q Senator, one of the early issues in the Senate here is one of timing. The Democrats wanted to get these hearing at least done in July, and Republicans then go slower -- (off mike). Do you have any concern that the debate over timing could serve as ammunition for the other side to try to use tactics to slow this thing down beyond where you want to slow down?

SEN. DURBIN: If you look at the history of these nominations, there are some notable exceptions, some that moved through extremely quickly. But even the most controversial didn't take more than 90 days, or a few more than 90 days. Historically there are around 70 days that these hearings -- that -- from the nomination till the final vote in the Senate.

I think it may be little much for my colleagues on the other side to ask that we put this off until October, and I think that's what I've heard some of them say. That really is unconscionably long delay.

She deserves, I think, to have her opinions reviewed. This isn't her first time to come before the Senate Judiciary Committee. It's the third. So she is not an unknown quantity. We're not talking about state decisions. Many of these have been reviewed at different levels before. And I hope that we can get this done, as the president suggested, before the August recess, so that if she's approved -- and I believe she will be -- she'll be on the bench and ready to consider the cases coming up in the fall.

Q Senator, the president on Friday said that Judge Sotomayor may have used a poor choice of words on the "wise Latina" remark. Did she offer any sort of -- you know, try to backtrack at all from her comment or suggest in any way that she may have chosen her words unwisely?

SEN. DURBIN: No, I think what she did for me was to put them in the context of what she had to say. And, you know, it -- it's just not -- it's not hard to understand. I mean, when I met with Sam Alito, we talked about his Italian heritage and how proud he was of that. And he should be.

I had a chance last week to be with former justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who wrote a book of her pride in the fact that she was raised in a ranch in Arizona, which is part of who she is and the way she looks at life.

And all of these things are understandable from anyone who is either appointed or elected to office. And that's the way I understood that, that what Judge Sotomayor was saying was, "This is who I am; this is part of what I am." And I think it -- as she said to me -- "This will be one of the things that I use to understand people who come before me, cases who come before me." But she said, in the end, it's the law that will be the deciding factor. I think that is the right way to approach it.

Q Senator, you said -- you said that --

Q Senator, what would you say to comments that people have made that that is a racist comment or that she'll make her decisions based on political views rather than law? What would you say to that?

SEN. DURBIN: Consider the source. The people who have been saying that I think are some of the most extreme speakers on the American political scene.

I was -- I was really happy that my colleague, Senator Cornyn, stepped up and said of comments made by -- I don't know if it was Gingrich's comments or Limbaugh's comments -- that they'd gone too far.

I think most Americans understand that that is an extreme reaction, and undeserved, and they are much more open-minded when it comes to this woman, who brings an exceptional resume to the nomination.

Q Senator, you said that she told you that race and gender don't take a back seat to good judgment.

SEN. DURBIN: Well, the point I'm -- let me make sure I clarify that. What she said -- she needs -- ultimately will use good judgment on these cases, based on the law, and that that judgment is not going to be trumped by race or gender. So I may have misstated that earlier.

Q Senator -- (off mike) -- the court of appeals and the policy, isn't it distinctly a policy of this president and you in the Congress -- (off mike)?

SEN. DURBIN: No, I didn't ask her that question, so I -- I don't want to suggest that she made that. But I will also tell you that if you've been around the Hill for a while, you can understand the focus on circuit judgeships, how critically important it's been, particularly on the other side of the aisle. They understand that the vast majority of important cases will be decided at the circuit level; never make it to the Supreme Court. So they have worked overtime to try to get as many people in those positions as possible. So whether you view this as policy making or policy influencing or policy interpreting, it is pretty clear those are very important courts.

And I didn't ask her that question, but my view is that in the hierarchy of judicial levels, certainly the circuit court plays a critical role in the ultimate policy of this country.

Q Senator, what might be the biggest hurdle of this? (Off mike) -- my colleagues who just went through the greatest -- (off mike) -- seem to give her a problem. How would you order them in terms of what might be the hardest to deal with as she goes through confirmation?

SEN. DURBIN: I don't see anything here that strikes me as problematic. And of course, we need to have a hearing, and we will. And she will face, as all nominees do, the questions and all of the investigation of her background. But this is such an exceptionally strong nominee that I think in the end that the Senate will approve the president's nomination.

Q And could just say a little more of what the point was on jurists, that they often just don't understand --

SEN. DURBIN: Well, she said what I can tell you from my experience, too, is if you go into a classroom, junior high and high school, and say, "Do you know the difference between a federal judge and a state judge?" most students struggle with that. They don't quite understand it. And she made that point. She said they don't understand the federal system; they should. You know, civic education is important in a democracy because ultimately we trust these young people to ultimately vote on who will lead this country. And that's a point she was making.

Q So she was not making a point about jurists -- (off mike).

SEN. DURBIN: No, but she said that in a courtroom, the well- informed juror, one who has civic education, is going to be in a better position to understand the gravity of their assignment. They're playing a critical role in terms of making a decision on the fate of a person.

Q Senator, have you talked to any of your Republican colleagues and gotten any sense directly from them, in informal talks, abut how they feel about her?

SEN. DURBIN: We're just back (a few days ?), you know.

And the ones I've spoken to are certainly impressed by her background. Some of the leaders have raised this question about needing more time. We addressed that earlier. But it's a little too early for -- for me to get into that kind of wrap-up on what the Republicans are thinking.

Q Did she talk at all about what it's like to be on the receiving end of some of the more incendiary comments that have been -- (off mike)?

SEN. DURBIN: No. But I'll tell you -- and let me just presume for a moment -- she's come up the hard way, and she talked about growing up in New York and in The Bronx in a public housing project, and I think she's a person that can weather that kind of storm very effectively.

Q (Off mike) -- your colleagues -- (off mike)?

SEN. DURBIN: No. (Laughs, laughter.) I totally -- (inaudible).

Thanks, everybody. Appreciate it.

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