You Want to Draw Your Own Opinion on Judge Sotomayor?

Then you should look at her opinions.

The ever-useful, and relatively unbiased, SCOTUS blog has summaries of her decisions here, here, here, here, and here.

That's a lot to read and, frankly, I haven't had the time to go through it all. But, from what I've read, I get the impression that she's a relatively unflashy left-of-center justice. Pretty much in the mold of the justice she'd be replacing.

The Law Has Seen Better Days

In the news:

Supreme Court Encourages Police to Make An End Run Around A Suspect's Lawyer

President Claims Power to Detain People Indefinitely.....and is criticized for not being lawless enough.


On the other hand, the law's seen worse days. This new Supreme Court nominee looks promising.

Southern Baptist Convention Condemns Torture

I haven't considered myself a Southern Baptist for some time, partly because of the pronouncements of their national political spokesman, Richard Land. Normally, he can be counted on to say whatever annoys me most about the Religious Right and whatever confirms popular misconceptions of Evangelicals as a tool of the Republican party.

This makes me all the more thrilled that Land, speaking on behalf of the Southern Baptist Convention, has come out against torture and, specifically, waterboarding under any circumstances. Given that Land is right smack in the Religious Right, that's a courageous thing to say. He's going to be harshly attacked. Maybe this is a sign that a consensus is building against torture.

The money quote: "It does cost us something to play by different rules than our enemies, but it would cost us far more if we played by their rules."