Orrin Hatch: “upon review of her judicial record and of her testimony before the Judiciary Committee, I have decided that I must…”

“upon review of her judicial record and of her testimony before the Judiciary Committee, I have decided that I must oppose the nomination of Florida Chief Justice Rosemary Barkett to be a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. I do so with regret because I like Chief Justice Barkett, and I consider her to be a fine person. But, I do so with the firm view that her record establishes that she will substitute her own policy views for the written law and take too soft an approach to criminal law enforcement. In reaching this conclusion, I stress that no judicial nominee needs to agree with my reading of the law, or any other Senator's reading, in all or nearly all cases. But, there are just too many cases, across too wide a range of subjects, where I believe this nominee stepped well past the line of responsible judging. I and other Senators inquired about many of these cases at her hearing before the Judiciary Committee. Incidentally, I notified Chief Justice Barkett in advance of the cases that would be the subject of inquiry. I was not reassured by her testimony. Indeed, Chief Justice Barkett herself ultimately admitted that she overreached or was careless in a number of important opinions.”