Orrin Hatch: “Some may claim that those of us who have concerns over this nomination have focused on a relatively small number of…”

“Some may claim that those of us who have concerns over this nomination have focused on a relatively small number of cases and that this is not an appropriate way to evaluate the nominee. I have a three-part response to this concern. First, a large number of cases of any appellate court are, frankly, routine, and I would expect that virtually all judges would rule unobjectionably in most cases before them. Second, and more importantly, if a small number of cases gives rise to large concerns, it is appropriate to base a vote on those cases. For example, the flagrant misuse of the Federal equal protection clause and the Federal due process clause may have occurred in just a handful of cases. But these two constitutional provisions are far too powerful, far too open to picking and choosing among democratically enacted statutes based on the policy preferences of a judge, for me to be much comforted by unobjectionable decisions in numerous other, routine cases.”