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Tuesday, May 26, 2009
“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life" - Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court candidate
It's informative that Obama didn't even interview a man, showing that in his view, qualifications begin with gender and ethinicity and not with competency.

For an initial case against Sotomayor, read this.

6 comments:

Chris A said...

Well, let me start off by saying that I don't have a dog in this fight. Whether she gets confirmed or not, I couldn't care less.

I did read that article, and found it to be very well balanced.

I will also say that quoting her out of context is a little deceptive. I'm not blaming you, Darius, since this quote has been thrown around all over the media. But I think, in all fairness, we should try to determine exactly what she was trying to say here.

She was specifically talking about judgments that dealt with issues of discrimination pertaining to gender and ethnicity.

Here is a little more of what she said,

"Until 1972, no Supreme Court case ever upheld the claim of a woman in a gender discrimination case. I, like Professor Carter, believe that we should not be so myopic as to believe that others of different experiences or backgrounds are incapable of understanding the values and needs of people from a different group. Many are so capable. As Judge Cedarbaum pointed out to me, nine white men on the Supreme Court in the past have done so on many occasions and on many issues including Brown. However, to understand takes time and effort, something that not all people are willing to give. For others, their experiences limit their ability to understand the experiences of others."

Darius said...

I agree about context, and thanks for adding it. However, it still seems to indicate that she believes that empathy or life experience matters to the job of a Supreme Court justice. It doesn't. The only thing that matters is that he/she apply the law correctly.

It seems she is from the same school of thought as Obama, which makes sense. Even if she was a conservative, I wouldn't like her candidacy (much like I didn't like Myers' for similar reasons).

I'm actually hopeful that if she is confirmed, she'll be a centrist along the lines of Kennedy.

Chris A said...

I agree that the criteria should ideally be based on whether a person can adequately interpret the law, but that's not reality anymore.

This whole process is completely political. If it were simply a matter of applying the law, there wouldn't be "conservative" and "liberal" judges. Is the law conservative? Is it liberal? It may be either, but we all know the game. Presidents elect people they suppose are going to rule consistent with their political ideology. Of course, its always a gamble to a certain extent. The Supreme Court always (and I think this goes for every single Justice) takes into account the political implications of their rulings. All you have to do is read them to see that.

That whole Myers thing - I really don't know what he was thinking. You know, there is a limit to hooking your friends up with good jobs.

Steve Martin said...

Racism on the part of the 'left' is rampant...and they do it in the name of non-racism.

It blows my mind.

Darius said...

Thomas Sowell made a great comment on this... he asked what would have happened if a white man had said that white men were more likely to come to a good decision than a Latina woman?

Chris A said...
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The Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel The Main Thing
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
Overcoming Sin and Temptation
According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible
Disciplines of a Godly Man
Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem
When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor. . .and Ourselves
The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
Respectable Sins
The Kite Runner
Life Laid Bare: The Survivors in Rwanda Speak
Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak
A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I am a missional, evangelical, post/protestant, liberal/conservative, mystical/poetic, biblical, charismatic/contemplative, fundamentalist/calvinist, ... anabaptist/anglican, metho
Show Them No Mercy
The Lord of the Rings
Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass
The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception
Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming
The Chronicles of Narnia
Les Misérables


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