Sotomayor will steadfastly claim, as did all of the current justices, that it would be improper to disclose her views on issues that might come before her, except at a high level of generality. And she will be right.

I have not always held this view, and I hold it now even though there are very strong reasons for demanding candor from a nominee who is effectively running for a lifetime appointment that will give her far more power than any member of Congress, and with no accountability to voters, ever.

Once confirmed, as seems almost assured, Sotomayor will likely spend three or more decades setting national policy (when in the majority) on issues including racial quotas and preferences; discrimination law; war powers of the president, Congress and the judiciary; abortion; church-state relations; gay rights; campaign finance; environmental law; property rights; gun control; whether judges should change the meaning of the U.S. Constitution to conform to foreign law; the death penalty; and other criminal law issues.

It's unimaginable that any serious candidate for Congress or the presidency could refuse to tell us what he or she thinks about any -- let alone all -- of these issues.

So why should there be an exemption for a nominee who seeks to sit on the only body with power to strike down presidential and congressional acts?

Then-Sen. Joe Biden's frustration was understandable when he said to John Roberts in 2005, "We are rolling the dice with you, judge.... You've told me nothing... as if the public doesn't have a right to know what you think about fundamental issues facing them."

Of course, there are obviously strong political incentives for nominees to refuse to disclose their views. Washington is bursting with interest groups that have impassioned views on all sides of every issue. In such a world, every candid answer would offend this or that group. And dozens of candid answers strung together would create formidable coalitions of opponents.