Senate Debate on Empathy
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Denny Chin
U.S. Circuit Judge, Second Circuit
Nominated: October 6, 2009
ABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
Committee Questionnaire
Hearing Date:
November 18, 2009
Questions For The Record
Reported By Committee:
Dec. 10, 2009
Confirmed By Senate: April 22, 2010
20xx-xx-xx
- Committee Questionnaire - Denny Chin
http://judiciary.senate.gov/nominations/111thCongressJudicialNominations/upload/DennyChin-QFRs.pdf
6. As you may know, President Obama has described the types of judges that he will nominate to the federal bench as follows:
"We need somebody who’s got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom. The empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old. And that’s the criteria by which I’m going to be selecting my judges."
a. Without commenting on what President Obama may or may not have meant by this statement, what is your opinion with respect to President Obama’s criteria for federal judges, as described in his quote?
Response: My opinion is that it is the President's perogative to nominate federal judges of his choosing, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, and to employ the criteria he deems appropriate.
b. In your opinion, do you fit President Obama’s criteria for federal judges, as described in the quote?
Response: I have not experienced all of the situations covered by the President in the quotation, but I have had a broad range of experiences and I believe I have the ability to understand and empathize with different people.
c. During her confirmation hearings, Justice Sotomayor rejected President Obama’s so-called "empathy standard" stating, "We apply the law to facts. We don’t apply feelings to facts." Do you agree with Justice Sotomayor?
Response: I agree with Justice Sotomayor's statement.
d. What role do you believe that empathy should play in a judge’s consideration of a case?
Response: Empathy should play no role in a judge's determination of what the law is. There is, however, a role for empathy, as empathy will help a judge treat all litigants and witnesses with dignity and respect.
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e. Do you think that it’s ever proper for judges to indulge their own subjective sense of empathy in determining what the law means?
Response: No.
i. If so, under what circumstances?
Response: I do not believe so.
ii. Please identify any cases in which you’ve done so.
Response: None.
iii. If not, please discuss an example of a case where you have had to set aside your own subjective sense of empathy and rule based solely on the law.
Response: As a judge, I have not considered my own subjective sense of empathy in determining what the law means, and I do not recall any such case.
7. Please describe with particularity the process by which these questions were answered.
Response: I drafted the answers. They were reviewed by the Department of Justice, which provided some feedback. The answers are mine.
8. Do these answers reflect your true and personal views?
Response: Yes.