(S.D.)-South Dakota and Nebraska Officials Weight In on Obama's Choice for Supreme Court

By: Nick Jakusz Posted at: 05/26/2009 11:19 AM

President Barak Obama selected U.S. Appeals Judege Sonia Sotomayor as the Supreme Court replacement for retired judge David Souter.

Several of our state officials are weighting in on the choice.

Nebraska Sen. MIke Johanns says he will be thoroughly reviewing the record and opinions of Judge Sotomayor before he votes on whether to confirm her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune says it will be important to figure out if President Barack Obama's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court will decide cases based on the rule of law or on her own personal feelings.

South Dakota's lone U.S. House member, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, says the chosing a Hispanic woman is historic.

Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota calls Sotomayor a moderate, and got strong, bipartisan Senate support when President George H.W. Bush appointed her to the federal bench and later when she was nominated to the appeals court in 1998.