By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Members of several conservative groups in the state said Thursday they are forming a grassroots network to spread the word to Arkansans about what they consider to be the troubling judicial philosophy of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.
The Arkansas Judicial Network includes representatives of the Arkansas Federalist Society, the National Rifle Association, Eagle Forum, the Family Council, the Republican Party of Arkansas and the Arkansas Federation of Young Republicans.
“It’s not something that we’re being overly aggressive with at this point, but we are beginning to mobilize, starting to talk to folks about some of the (judge’s) positions,” said Clint Reed, a consultant and former regional political director for the Republican National Committee.
“Based on what we’ve seen so far, she appears to be a person who leans more in the direction of being a judicial activist, which we find troubling,” said Jerry Cox, executive director of the Family Council. Cox said he defines judicial activism as making judicial decisions based on personal views rather than the law.
“Our opinion is that judges ought to follow the law rather than their own personal opinions,” he said.
Reed and Cox named the constitutional right to bear arms and abortion as two issues they will be particularly interested in as they follow Sotomayor’s Senate confirmation hearings.
Cox said the organization, affiliated with the national Judicial Confirmation Network, is more focused on spreading its message to Arkansans than on defeating Sotomayor’s confirmation.
“I think ultimately she will be confirmed, I really do,” Cox said, but he added, “I think it’s important that we help the public understand what judicial activism is and why it’s not good for the people of Arkansas in the long run.”
Some in Arkansas have hailed President Obama’s nomination of Sotomayor, including Ana Hart, state director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, who said last week, “The job of justices is to interpret the law. I believe that she (Sotomayor) has the credentials to do that in a fair and equitable way.”
Pulaski County and Circuit Clerk Pat O’Brien, who served as a spokesman for Obama’s presidential campaign in Arkansas, said Thursday that if Obama and his staff have studied Sotomayor’s record and found her qualified, “I’m sure that she will be a great pick for the Supreme Court.”
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