Erick Erickson at RedState
reads Sonia Sotomayor's written response to the judiciary
committee's questions about the use of foreign law as amending
her oral testimony to the point of reversing its meaning. I
actually don't think it reverses her position so much as drains
it of any meaningful content.
Sotomayor's statement that "[r]eading the decisions of foreign
courts for ideas, however, does not constitute 'using' those
decisions to decide cases" reminds me of the
debate Justices Scalia and Breyer had on this topic a few
years ago. "I'm not preventing you from reading [foreign] cases,"
Scalia quipped. "I mean, just indulge your curiosity! Just don't
put it in your opinions!" Would Sotomayor cite foreign caselaw in
her opinions? I suspect so, but her written and oral testimony,
taken together, don't really answer the question one way or the
other.