Renowned Conservative Backs Sotomayor
By Jerry Markon
Kenneth W. Starr – investigator of President Bill Clinton and longtime pillar of the conservative legal establishment – has endorsed President Obama’s choice for the Supreme Court.
During a question-and-answer session after a speech Thursday in Los Angeles, Starr said he “supported the nomination” of Sonia Sotomayor to the high court, according to a statement issued by Starr’s office at Pepperdine University Law School, where he is Dean.
Starr told the gathering at Loyola Law School that he “thinks very well” of Sotomayor, whose nomination has triggered strong opposition from conservative groups.
The statement added that Starr still wants “a variety of issues” explored at Sotomayor’s Senate confirmation hearings, including her controversial remark in 2001 that she hoped a “wise Latina woman” would tend to decide cases better than a white male.
Starr, the deeply religious son of a San Antonio minister, is a former Republican-appointed federal appeals court judge and U.S. solicitor general. He is best known, of course, for his role as independent counsel investigating Whitewater and Clinton’s relationship with White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky, which led to the president’s impeachment.
Starr’s affinity for Sotomayor may surprise his former colleagues on the political right, including former Attorney General Edwin Meese III, who is a key organizer of the opposition to Sotomayor. Meese and Starr served together in the Reagan administration, where Starr was a top Justice Department official.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/supreme-court/2009/06/starr_endorses_sotomayor.html?nav=rss_email/components:puke:
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