An exchange between Wisconsin Democrat Herb Kohl and Sonia Sotomayor during her first day of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee made me think of Animal House. Kohl, who before becoming a constitutional scholar was the owner of a professional basketball team, quizzed Sotomayor on her views about privacy as relates to the U.S. Constitution. "As you know Judge," he asked Sotomayor, "the landmark case of Griswold v. Connecticut guarantees that there is a fundamental constitutional right to privacy as it applies to contraception. Do you agree with that? In your opinion, is that settled law?"

"That is the precedent of the court, so it is settled law," she said.