my colleagues did ask about a handful of cases, the newhaven fire fighters case, the second amendment case, they were unable to prove anything other than what we knew before the hearings, she follows precedent. in her courtroom, rule of law comes first. kurt opinions speak much more clearly and loudly than snippets of speeches. spes were to inspire and motivate, opinions are to instruct and guide. as chief justice marshall said, quote, to say what the law is. when we have so many opinions to review, it is troubling that colleagues seem to be looking for reasons outside of her record to try to posit that she is outside of the mainstream. even with such a large strobe of opinions to examine, hearings do matter. my colleagues on both sides of the aisle were entitled to ask their questions. i was pleased to see that even the most difficult questions were asked and answered respectfully but judge sonia sotomayor's answers only as that -- emphasize what was clear from her record on the bench. shea comes to the bench without arrogance and without an agenda. i have three test for evaluating n