Tipsheet

Hardly a Surprise

Carol Platt Liebau | July 09, 2009 5:59 PM

Today, the Washington Post reports, in effect, that Sonia Sotomayor doesn't seem either to grasp or else to honor by the distinction between a trial judge and an appellate one

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Can anyone truly be surprised? Sotomayor is "empathetic" -- she doesn't understand that a judge's role isn't to make policy; it's to interpet the law. If she's willing to ignore a judge's role altogether, why would she bother abiding by the traditional understanding of the different roles of a trial and appellate judge?