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View Full Version : Firefighters in racial-preferences case to testify at confirmation hearing




bobbyw24
07-09-2009, 11:18 AM
http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/07/09/firefighters-to-testify-about-sotomayor/

July 9, 2009
Firefighters to testify about Sotomayor
@ 1:09 pm by Eric Zimmermann

Republicans will call two New Haven firefighters to testify in the confirmation hearings of Sonia Sotomayor next week, making clear the GOP's intent to place affirmative action at the center of Senate battle over Sotomayor's nomination.

A Judiciary Committee press release lists Frank Ricci and Ben Vargas as expected Republican witnesses. Ricci was the lead plaintiff in Ricci v. New Haven, the controversial case in which Sotomayor ruled the New Haven fire department acted constitutionally when it promoted black firefighters who scored lower than their white counterparts on a qualifying test. Vargas was the only non-white co-plaintiff in that case.

The Supreme Court later overturned that decision.

Meanwhile, Democrats will trot out New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who supports Sotomayor's nomination. Also testifying at the behest of Democrats will be former FBI Director Louis Freeh, former New York District Attorney Robert Morgenthau (Sotomayor's boss when she was a prosecutor) and former major league pitcher David Cone. (I'm assuming Cone's testimony has something to do with Sotomayor "saving baseball.")