Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor came for a tour of the state capitol last Wednesday, just one day before the deadline for signature collection on the referendum petition against SB167, which grants tax funded in-state tuition to illegal immigrants.
The timing of her visit strikes me as odd because, according to an article on hometownannapolis.com, Annapolis officials seemed unaware of the visit, which also corresponded to the absence of many state officials due to a conference in Ocean City.
Further, Justice Sotomayor’s history of involvement in hispanic advocacy organizations, such as La Raza, was a topic of controversy when she was being considered for appointment to the nation’s highest court.
In my interview with Senate President Mike Miller, he said there was “no agenda whatsoever”, and that the tour was “strictly educational and informative”. He said he became aware of the planned visit about two weeks in advance when he was asked to take part in it.
When asked if the Maryland Dream Act was among the topics of discussion, he said, “If it came up at all, it was only a passing moment,” and discussed only in terms of what had transpired in the last session.
Mr. Miller said that Ms. Sotomayor was concerned about the number of women and minorities in the General Assembly and in positions of leadership.
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