Sotomayor: favors insurance industry

My good friend John Jones (a great lawyer and all-around good fella) ruined my day with this article from the Insurance Journal.

Given her lengthy time on the bench, including on the District Court and Court of Appeals, Sotomayor has a long list of insurance coverage cases on her resume, Maniloff explained. “But what I discovered in the course of looking at Judge Sotomayor’s overall body of opinions on coverage issues was far more interesting than any one case. Judge Sotomayor has been very, very insurer-friendly during her time on the bench.”

Now this is just one guy saying Judge Sotomayor is “very insured-friendly” but then I recall Judge Sotomayor was first appointed to the Federal Bench by then President George W. Bush.  Following the advice of his lawsuit hating presidential brain Karl Rove, I doubt President Bush would have appointed a plaintiff friendly Federal Judge.

UPDATE:

Now I am concerned.  According to Politico.com, The United States Chamber of Commerce, that “consumer friendly” entity, has endorsed Judge Sotomayor.

Senate Confirmation Hearings on Judge Sotomayor: I Miss Howell Heflin!

On the eve of the Sotomayor hearings, here is a blast from the past: Howell Heflin’s statement to Antonin Scalia during his confirmation hearing in 1999:

STATEMENT OF SENATOR HOWELL T. HEFLIN

Senator HEFLIN. Judge Scalia, I believe that almost every Senator that has an Italian-American connection has come forward to welcome you to this or to participate in this hearing thus far.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the fact that my great
great grandfather [laughter] married a widow [laughter] who was
married first to an Italian American. [Laughter.]

The CHAIRMAN. Let us get quiet.

Judge SCALIA. Senator, I have been to Alabama several times too.
[Laughter.]

Senator HEFLIN. So, Judge Scalia, it is with pride that I welcome
you on behalf of the 4,022 Italian Americans in Alabama and the
other 4 million people to this hearing. I also am delighted to welcome your wife and your nine children.

Looking at the number of your children, it appears that you have
had much experience in working with groups of nine. However,
nine is enough, at least for the U.S. Supreme Court Justices.
If confirmed, I hope your experience, family and otherwise, will
help you to build a consensus when justice requires it, and to resolve the minor disputes which may arise on the Court.

Great stuff.   But here is the part applicable today.

In my examination of a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, I
am in agreement with the opinion of the late Senator John McClellan of Arkansas. He stated that: “there is room on the U.S. Supreme Court for liberals and conservatives, for Democrats and Republicans, of Northerners and Southerners, of Westerners and Easterners, of blacks and whites, and men and women— these and other factors should neither qualify nor disqualify a nominee.”

To live under the American Constitution is the greatest personal privilege which was ever accorded any member of the human race.  Therefore, I believe that the men and women to whom we entrust the care of our Constitution should be chosen with great care. In my opinion, only a handful of men and women are both qualified and capable of wearing the weighty robe of a Supreme Court Justice.