A date has finally been set for Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy disclosed today that the hearings will begin a little over a month from now on July 13th.
Sotomayor was nominated in May by President Barack Obama to succeed Justice David Souter on the United States Supreme Court. If she is confirmed she would be only the third woman in U.S. history to serve on the Court, following in the footsteps of Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Republicans are already whining about the proposed schedule, saying it’s too rushed, but Leahy makes the point that Sotomayor needs time to hire law clerks, get settled into her new office, and prepare for the Supreme Court’s fall term.