President Obama has made his first selection for the U.S. Supreme Court in federal appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Observers now are studying decisions she handed down in more than 25 years on the federal bench, seeking evidence about her views on key issues.
Michael Kennedy, the Associated General Contractors’ general counsel, says Sotomayor’s construction-related decisions “track relatively closely” with those of Justice David Souter, whom she is being nominated to replace. Thus, Kennedy sees “little to indicate at this point that her confirmation would significantly alter the court’s disposition toward the construction industry.”