Tipsheet

Hardly a Surprise

Carol Platt Liebau
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.

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?