Judge Sotomayor informed the Senate Judiciary Committee today that she has resigned from the Belizean Grove. Her letter states that “I believe that the Belizean Grove does not practice invidious discrimination and my membership did not violate the Judicial Code of Ethics, but I do not want questions about this to distract anyone from my qualifications and record.”
As I’ve spelled out, although I’m disinclined to think that the Code of Conduct for United States Judges should forbid Sotomayor’s membership in the Belizean Grove, I believe that it appears to do so. I also don’t see why she supposes that her resignation should eliminate questions about her previous membership or about her reasoning on the issue of “invidious” discrimination.