Sotomayor Hearings Touch—Lightly—On Education

Legal issues affecting education surfaced repeatedly last week during Senate confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor, most notably as the senators and the U.S. Supreme Court nominee discussed racial diversity and discrimination, including a schools case she handled at the appellate level.

And yet, as with so much during nearly a week of hearings, those exchanges seemed to reveal far more about the views and agendas of the senators—whether on diversity and equal opportunity in education or strip-searching students—than about how President Barack Obama’s nominee will act if she is confirmed to the high court.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on July 16 wrapped up three days of questioning of Judge Sotomayor, who currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, in New York City. The senators then turned to a long list of other panelists who testified about the nomination, including New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, representatives from the American Bar Association, and Linda Chavez, the chairwoman of the Center for Equal Opportunity, an advocacy group based in Falls Church, Va., that is...