Sotomayor: Judge's role not activist one

WASHINGTON, July 15 (UPI) -- Sonia Sotomayor told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee she doesn't use the term "judicial activism" because she doesn't view a judge's work in that manner.

Asked by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., to give her definition of judicial activism, Sotomayor said during the third day of hearings on her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, "I don't use the term, because ... I don't see the work that judges do in that way. I assume the good faith of all judges to interpret the law according to the principles of statutory construction."

Sotomayor also demurred on questions Franken asked about whether an open and accessible Internet was a "compelling First Amendment interest."

"There is no question in my mind, as a citizen, that the Internet revolutionized communications in the United States," she said. However, "the role of the court is never to make policy but to wait until Congress acts" then determine whether its action passes constitutional muster.

"Rights are rights," she said. "What the court looks at is how Congress balances (one set of rights against another) in a particular situation."

Republican-turned Democrat Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, a one-time Judiciary Committee chairman, asked Sotomayor whether it was "appropriate" for the public to have televised access to Supreme Court proceedings.

Sotomayor said she had participated in televised proceedings and had positive experiences.

If confirmed by the Senate, "I will certainly relay those positive experiences" to other justices.

"This question is certainly an important one," she said.

Sotomayor also fielded questions concerning abortion and self-defense by two Republican members -- John Cornyn of Texas and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.

Sotomayor told Cornyn that no one from the White House asked about her views on abortion rights.

"I was asked no questions by anyone, including (President Barack Obama), about my views on any specific legal issue," Sotomayor said.

When asked by Coburn if individuals had the right to defend themselves, Sotomayor said she didn't know whether that legal question had ever been presented to a court.

"I wasn't asking about the legal question," Coburn said. "I'm asking about your personal opinion."

"But that is sort of an abstract question with no particular meaning to me outside (of a legal context)," she replied.