Obama Nominee Rejects Obama "Empathy Standard"

During written questionning of William Conley before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ranking Member, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), elicted the following responses from Conley:

Question 8(c):  As you may know, President Obama has described the types of judges that he will nominate to the federal bench as follows:

“We need somebody who’s got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom. The empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old. And that’s the criteria by which I’m going to be selecting my judges.”

During her confirmation hearings, Justice Sotomayor rejected President Obama’s so-called “empathy standard” stating, “We apply the law to facts. We don’t apply feelings to facts.” Do you agree with Justice Sotomayor?

Response: I agree that the obligation of the judge is to apply the law to the facts to the best of his or her ability, without regard to personal feelings, biases or political views.

Question 8(d):  What role do you believe that empathy should play in a judge’s consideration of a case?

Response: The obligation of a judge is to understand the positions of the parties to the best of their ability and then to apply the law to the facts dispassionately.

Question 8(e):  Do you think that it’s ever proper for judges to indulge their own subjective sense of empathy in determining what the law means? If so, under what circumstances?

Response: No [I do not think that it's ever proper for judges to indulge their own subjective sense of empathy in determining what the law means].