In the past three weeks, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has met with 71 senators during her trips to Washington. This week she will meeting with a few more, however, there is one Republican senator who refuses to meet with her: Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma.
Inhofe has already decided he will vote against her nomination, and, therefore, has no intention of meeting with her.
Inhofe reportedly told The Tulsa World that his decision to vote against Sotomayor was a “foregone conclusion,” and he pointed to comments Sotomayor had made that he said suggested she would legislate from the bench.
What is interesting is that Inhofe’s decision is unusual because many of the Senate’s staunchest conservatives have already met with Sotomayor even if they are not voting for her.
In addition, Sotomayor has decided to resign from her all-women’s group, Belizean Grove, amid criticism from Republicans that her membership was becoming controversial. Federal judges are bound by a code that says they shouldn’t join any organization that discriminates by race, sex, religion or nationality.
Sotomayor stated that she did not want her membership in the organization to become an issue during confirmation hearings.
In documents provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sotomayor openly wrote of her membership in the group, saying, “I am a member of the Belizean Grove, a private organization of female professionals from the profit, nonprofit and social sectors. The organization does not invidiously discriminate on the basis of sex. Men are involved in its activities—they participate in trips, host events and speak at functions—but to the best of my knowledge, a man has never asked to be considered for membership.”
Conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh recently criticized Sotomayor for her involvement with the group saying, “I think I’m going to send Sotomayor and her club a bunch of vacuum cleaners to help them clean up after their meetings.”
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