As confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee David H. Souter began Thursday, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, led the fight to shield him from questions that could reveal his beliefs on abortion and other sensitive topics.
But the most excitement came when a dozen radical homosexuals jumped up to shout protests - with one man approaching within about 10 feet of Souter while pointing and yelling. They were wrestled away by U.S. Capitol police and arrested.They shouted to reporters that they belong to the New York City AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, or ACT UP - the same group that shouted down Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Sullivan at an AIDS conference in San Francisco in June.
They shouted such phrases as, "We need a justice that supports gay rights," "Souter, you will kill women" and "Souter is anti-women and anti-gay." Many laid on the floor and forced police to carry or drag them.
After the incident, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., looked at Souter and said, "Welcome to Washington, Judge."
Other protests during the morning were much more subtle. Conservative senators protested apparent plans by opposition to probe into Souter's views on such topics as abortion. And liberals complained Souter has little written record in that area. Souter himself was not scheduled to testify until the afternoon.
Hatch said, "The Senate should not probe into the particular views of a nominee on particular legal issues or public policies, let alone impose direct or indirect litmus tests on specific issues or cases.
"If it does so, the Senate impinges on the independence of the judiciary. It politicizes the judging function. The confirmation process becomes a means to influence the outcome of future cases on issues of concern to particular senators."
But Biden said, "At this fateful moment in our history, we have a right to know - and a duty to discover - precisely what you, Judge David Hackett Souter, think about the great constitutional questions of our time."
He added, "The burden of proof is on you, Judge Souter. A Supreme Court justice can assume his post only if the Senate is persuaded that the nominee is the right person for that position at that particular junction of American history."Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, agreed and said he planned to ask questions about abortion.
That brought harsh counterattacks by Hatch and other conservatives.
"Senators are free to ask a nominee any question they wish, no matter how misleading, abusive, unfair or foolish," Hatch said.
"A Supreme Court nominee, however, should answer questions related only to his ethics, competence, legal ability, general view of the role of the Supreme Court in our federal system and independence of mind."
Somewhat surprisingly, one Democrat agreed with Hatch. Sen. Dennis DeConcini, D-Ariz., complained "interest groups are attempting to turn a Supreme Court nomination hearing into a referendum on Roe v. Wade. Those who view these proceedings as just a question of how a nominee will vote on one case make a mockery of the process."
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said he was upset by many positions defended by Souter when he was attorney general of New Hampshire and complained that too little was known about Souter's stand on major constitutional issues.
That brought a double-barreled attack from Hatch. First, he said nominees should not be judged on what positions they argued on behalf of clients. Otherwise he said the committee sends the message to future nominees, "be careful about which people, institutions and causes you represent, especially unpopular ones."
Hatch called allegations that little is known about Souter stances "nonsense" and added, "Souter has written more than 200 opinions during seven years as a justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court and as a New Hampshire superior court judge.
"Scarcely a dozen justices in the history of the Supreme Court have been nominated with a more extensive judicial background."
Most senators said no question exists about Souter's intellectual and legal capability.
Even Metzenbaum said, "It is clear that Judge Souter possesses a keen legal mind." But he said, "He seems to have sprinkled an extra dose of logic in places where a dash of common sense or compassion would have been more appropriate."