Judge Sotomayor’s Passion For Detail

Jerry Markon of the Washington Post writes here on Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s seeming preoccupation with the factual details of the trial record. This is most unusual in an appellate jurist, although not necessarily a bad thing. Experts disagree. University of Pittsburgh law professor Arthur Hellman calls it an ”odd use of judicial time” and bemoans Sotomayor’s “carpet bombing” approach to opinion writing. Former Clarence Thomas clerk Dan Himmelfarb praises Sotomayor’s “extraordinarily thorough” opinions. Finally, Washington DC criminal appellate attorney Adrienne Urrutia Wisenberg, letterofapology’s favorite expert, admires Sotomayor’s “tenacious trial lawyer’s personality.” The article is based on analysis of Sotomayor’s opinions in 46 Second Circuit split decisions. This accompanying piece contains excerpts from some of Sotomayor’s opinions, with links to the full opinion for each excerpt.