Another Perspective
Sotomayor Down Under
Whom does she represent?
(Page 2 of 2)
Sonia Sotomayor and Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens can be said to have similar judicial approaches. They do not remotely share a common background. On the other hand, Sonia Sotomayor and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas both rose from impoverishment within minority communities. Both were largely raised by a single parent. They can be said to have similar backgrounds. They do not have remotely similar judicial approaches.
There is also no guarantee that leaving determination of issues of disadvantage and discrimination to the tender philosophical sympathies of judges selected for "empathy" will reduce discrimination because of a "different perspective." It may even produce it.
Judge Sotomayor herself has proved this. Last year, three New Haven firefighters were denied promotion on account of their ethnicity, despite meeting performance test expectations. This discriminatory decision by the local fire fighting authority was upheld by a panel of judges that included Sonia Sotomayor.
Since the performance test had not on this occasion produced promotions for African-Americans, other firefighters, including a dyslexic who had studied with special vigor to qualify, were denied their due. Their case is currently under appeal. This is where 'representation' in non-elective contexts takes us.
Sotomayor is an experienced jurist. That would be the reason for the Senate to confirm her, if it confirms her -- not because she comes from a minority. "Representation" has as little place as a criterion for the selection of judges as it does for firefighters.
About the Author
Daniel Mandel is a Fellow in History at Melbourne University and author of H. V. Evatt and the Establishment of Israel: The Undercover Zionist (Routledge, London, 2004). His blog can be found on the History News Network.
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Denver Todd| 6.12.09 @ 7:46AM
When I read that Sotomayor said that "a wise Latina woman would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a black female who hasn't lived that life" I was outraged. People of color should rise up and keep this woman from the bench.
Buffalo Todd| 6.12.09 @ 3:16PM
I heard the audio today how she describes herself as a product of affirmative action and would have never gotten into an Ivy League school otherwise because frankly she is not that bright. In this regard she has much in common with our Community Organizer-in-Chief who is a product of affirmative action himself. I doubt he spent too much time in the library in his marijuana smoking-coke snorting days and we have yet to see anything of his transcript.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with having women on the Supreme Court as long as their race and gender is not their major preoccupation as it is so clearly with Sotomayor. Listening to her speeches and her reasoning, she is nothing more than a race-gender obsessed leftist lightweight that has no business getting a lifetime appointment in the Supreme Court. Basically, she is a "poor mans" Ginsburg but I guess we are all suppose to feel good about having a "wise Latina woman" on the Court much like having a half-black Marxist as President.
Anonymous| 6.12.09 @ 5:53PM
She should decline her nomination.
Michele San Pietro| 6.13.09 @ 10:28AM
I agree. Sara Sotomayor doesn't deserve to be in the Supreme Court.
Marc Jeric| 6.13.09 @ 2:25PM
I had intended to write something about this criminally irresponsible nomination - but then I read the missive above by "Buffalo Tod" and abstained; he said it all.
BOBMONTGOMERY| 6.13.09 @ 7:43PM
The only burning question is whether the chivalrous-to-the-point-of-suicide Republicans will debate the shape of the table.
Richard Baker| 6.14.09 @ 12:28AM
Buffalo Todd:
Isn't it a shame that she sees herself as ONLY a Latina? Being an American citizen is so much more fulfilling, don't you think?
bruce| 6.14.09 @ 4:39PM
this second rate la raza racist should not be a judge let alone a supreme court justice
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weddingdress| 7.12.11 @ 5:25AM
I had intended to write something about this criminally irresponsible nomination - but then I read the missive above by "Buffalo Tod" and abstained; he said it all.