Posted by
Steve on Monday, June 01, 2009 8:54:03 AM
Last week, Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayer for the Supreme Court. At the time, I said I would reserve judgment until I found out more about her. For the past week, I have read all that I can about her and her background. I have read legal experts that I trust and have come to a conclusion. Sonia Sotomayer is not qualified to be on the Supreme Court.
How did I come up with that judgment? There were a number of factors that came into play. Her most talked about statements really troubled me. The one that bothers me the most is the racial statement. She said that a Hispanic woman can make better decisions than a white male based on her life’s experiences. Had a white male said the same thing in reverse, he would have been shown the door in no time at all. The fact that she is Hispanic should have nothing to do with the fact that the statement is one of the most racially charged statements from a Supreme Court nominee since one of the KKK members became a member of the Supreme Court.
The statement alone was not enough to sway me that she was sincere. There is a case that she decided that clinched the argument. The case was about a town that made a test for firefighters for advancement. The test was prepared by experts so that it had no racial components at all. After the test was administered, 17 white males and one Hispanic male passed the test. No blacks passed the test at all. The city then determined that because no blacks passed the test, the test must be racially biased and threw it out. The firefighters then sued the city. The case came to the court of appeals where Sonia Sotomayer was serving. She was on the majority that threw out the firefighter’s case. This was an obvious case of racial discrimination, yet she decided the other way.
One other reason that I do not feel she is qualified is that she has had 60% of her decisions overturned upon appeal to a higher court. As a teacher, if I had any student get 40% on a test I would not say they were a top student. Any judge will have some cases overturned on appeal. Everyone makes mistakes. That is why we have appeals courts. A judge deciding cases strictly on the law should not have cases overturned very much. Sonia Sotomayer had the highest overturned rate of any judge that Barack Obama was considering for the Supreme Court. If she makes so many wrong decisions on lower courts, how can we be sure she gets it right on the Supreme Court? The high rate of decisions overturned tells me that she is deciding some cases based on her own ideas, not the law. Her supporters always bring up cases where she follows the law in sentencing. Those are undoubtedly cases that were not overturned. I would like to know her decisions in the cases she had overturned. That would tell us much more about her judicial philosophy than the cases she got right. Especially since her rate of cases overturned is so high.
On the surface, this appointment looks like an affirmative action pick by Barack Obama. It does not look like he picked the best person in the United States for the Supreme Court. It looks like he decided he was going to pick a Hispanic and just picked one without regard to her track record. I could be wrong, but that is what I think based on the information that is at my disposal at this time. That would be typical of someone who was an affirmative action selection at most levels. Also, Democrats believe fervently in affirmative action. That is another reason that this appointment just does not look right.
I still think that Sonia Sotomayer will become a Supreme Court Justice. Why do I think that? Democrats hold a 59-40 majority in the Senate. If the Republicans do not find something more damning than the racist statement, they will not filibuster the appointment. If they do not filibuster the appointment, she will be approved. That is why elections have consequences. We are now paying for the stupidity of the Republicans in 2006 and 2008. Also, Republicans should be ashamed for trying to be Democrats leading up to the elections in 2006 and 2008. People will always pick the real thing over a fake if given the choice. They made that abundantly clear in 2006 and 2008. I hope the Republicans got the message or they will get it again in 2010. If they got the message, the Democrats will get their hat handed to them in 2010. That would be a good thing for America and the world.