Confirmation Ground Rules: A Narrative Analysis

120 Words1 Pages
A Supreme Courts nominee’s job is to be confirmed. To do so, they must navigate a Congressional hearing. These confirmation hearings are less about the nominee 's jurisprudence/case history and more about turning the candidate into a two-dimensional character that is composed of political sound bites. Then, it is the applicant’s responsibility to perform the textbook responses artfully to appease their audience. When Michael Dorf wrote, “What is Sonia Sotomayor’s Judicial Philosophy” he brought the public’s attention to the “Confirmation Ground Rules,” Here, he spoke about the choreographed hearing process. A song and dance that is well rehearsed by both parties, the nominee, and committee, which has been the practice for nearly every confirmation