Mitch Landrieu: “Socrates said, ``Four things belong to a judge: to hear courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly, and to…”

“Socrates said, ``Four things belong to a judge: to hear courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly, and to decide impartially.'' To date, the Senate has confirmed 209 of President Bush's judicial nominees. The vast majority of them received overwhelming support from this body. We looked at their records and decided that they had the qualities that Socrates described. Janice Rogers Brown, however, lacks these qualities and falls far short of this ideal. I sincerely regret that the President has asked this body to confirm her to a lifetime appointment to the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. This is no reflection on her individual accomplishments. She comes from a very humble background, a sharecropper's daughter, and has taken full advantage of all that this country has to offer to become a Supreme Court judge. She has gained some wisdom from this experience, I am sure, and I have no doubt that she will take her job as a judge seriously, soberly. My greatest concern lies with her impartiality. Some of her statements and her decisions on the California Supreme Court lead me to believe that she will let her personal bias dictate her consideration of issues of law.…”