WASHINGTON
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina says he will vote against the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.
Burr, a Republican, says he is troubled by Sotomayor's decisions in cases where she "appears to have relied on something other than well-settled law" to make her decision.
He says he is afraid that she cannot separate her personal beliefs from the law. He added that he believes that she has clearly ignored precedent in several cases, saying he finds "little predictability in her decisions and the implications they may have."
Burr, who is up for re-election next year, compared his decision with that of President Obama in 2005, when Obama, who was then a senator, voted against Chief Justice John Roberts.
North Carolina's other senator, Kay Hagan, a Democrat, said she will vote for Sotomayor. "She has an established record as a moderate judge whose decisions show a respect for precedent," Hagan said in a statement.
The statement said that in 1998 the late U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., voted for Sotomayor's confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, which is based in New York.
The Senate is expected to vote on the nomination next week.
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