Begich, like Murkowski, asked Sotomayor about guns

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Posted: June 24, 2009 - 9:11 am

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(Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/McClatchy Tribune)

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. –

Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, got his chance today to meet with Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court pick.

"It was a good discussion and I had an opportunity to talk to her about her process in making decisions, and understanding more about her as a person," Begich said.

Like his Republican counterpart, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Begich’s main question was about the Second Amendment. And like Murkowski – who met with Sotomayor last week -- he wanted to make it clear: Alaskans have a keen interest in the right to bear arms.

"I did a little education, I hope, on Alaska issues and what concerns we have around Second Amendment issues, around Alaska Native rights…and also environmental and development issues. It was more of an education opportunity."

Most importantly, Begich said, he had the opportunity to get a sense of Sotomayor’s decision process.

"In Alaska, we’re not anxious for activist-type of judges, people who legislate from the bench. I did not get that sense from her at all, based on her history, but also based on some of the conversation."

As a Democrat, Begich's vote is probably more assured than Murkowski's, but both have said they want to wait until her confirmation hearings next month before they decide whether to confirm her as the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court judge. But Alaskans have a history of voting for her. In 1998, both of Alaska's then-senators, Republicans Ted Stevens and Murkowski's father, Frank Murkowski, voted to confirm Sotomayor as an appellate court judge.

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