Sotomayor Epitomizes Identity Politics
President Obama has nominated Sonia Sotomayor to be the next Supreme Court Justice. She is to replace Justice Souter, who recently retired from the nation's highest court. With a Democrat as president and Congress controlled by Democrats, Sotomayor will be confirmed barring some very damaging revelation. However, despite this inevitability, Sotomayor's selection to the Supreme Court reveals that today's judicial selection process is now based in large part on one's own race and gender, rather than on one's ability as a legal scholar. Democrats will inevitably focus on Sotomayor's personal story, which is no doubt compelling. She was part of a poor Puerto Rican family, but eventually went to Yale Law School and became a federal judge.
Yet Sotomayor is revered by the left more because she is a woman and a member of a minority racial group. Such a focus is disingenuous since Democrats have had not trouble attacking minority judges who are conservative, Justice Clarence Thomas and Miguel Estrada being the most obvious. In fact, the racial attacks from the left on Clarence Thomas have, over the years, been vicious.
Today, in our identity focused culture, Sotomayor's race, and not her abilities as a judge, will be emphasized. Such emphasis will help ensure Sotomayor's confirmation. That is a shame because Sotomayor's judicial decision making has clearly been based, not in the law as it should be, but in racial identification.
Sotomayor is rightly coming under fire for the following statement: "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion [as a judge] than a white male who hasn't lived that life." Consider inverting the placement of "Latina woman" and "white male" and have a conservative judge, or any conservative for that matter, say it. The white male would be labeled a racist and his career would be finished. But more importantly, such a comment indicates that Sotomayor sees justice through the lens of race. Interpreting the law based on either the defendant's or plaintiff's race is dangerous. Would a white plaintiff or defendant, who comes before the Supreme Court to argue his case, truly believe that such a person as Sotomayor would give him fair consideration?
Americans already have a good idea about how Sotomayor would decide cases where race has become an issue. In 2003, the City of New Haven Connecticut administered a test to determine which city firefighters would be promoted to captain and lieutenant positions. When 19 whites and 1 Hispanic achieved the required scores, but no blacks did so, the City threw out the test and denied those twenty individuals their promotions. Judge Sotomayor, who now sits on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, upheld the decision in Ricci vs. DeStefano. It was clear to at least one other member of the Second Circuit that Sotomayor simply ruled against the firefighters because they were white. The case is now on appeal to the Supreme Court.
There are even more examples that Sotomayor cares more about race than the law and U.S. Constitution. It is a shame that someone so poisonous will occupy a seat on the highest court in America. Every American citizen has the same rights, as the sins of slavery have long since become history. Yet this country will never be able to move past the issue of race if large numbers of Americans, represented by people such as Judge Sotomayor, continue to believe that one's success or plight is chiefly based on their race. As Chief Justice John Roberts so succinctly stated in Parents Involved in Community Schools vs. Seattle School District Number One, the "way to stop discriminating on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race." Only when affirmative action, and its insistence on favoring one class of citizens over another, is eliminated will the issue of race become moot. Judges such as Sonia Sotomayor only prolong racial conflict when they continue to consider one's race in determining how the law should be applied.
Any comments or questions can be received at whyyouareaconservative@gmail.com
~ The Conservative Guy
Yet Sotomayor is revered by the left more because she is a woman and a member of a minority racial group. Such a focus is disingenuous since Democrats have had not trouble attacking minority judges who are conservative, Justice Clarence Thomas and Miguel Estrada being the most obvious. In fact, the racial attacks from the left on Clarence Thomas have, over the years, been vicious.
Today, in our identity focused culture, Sotomayor's race, and not her abilities as a judge, will be emphasized. Such emphasis will help ensure Sotomayor's confirmation. That is a shame because Sotomayor's judicial decision making has clearly been based, not in the law as it should be, but in racial identification.
Sotomayor is rightly coming under fire for the following statement: "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion [as a judge] than a white male who hasn't lived that life." Consider inverting the placement of "Latina woman" and "white male" and have a conservative judge, or any conservative for that matter, say it. The white male would be labeled a racist and his career would be finished. But more importantly, such a comment indicates that Sotomayor sees justice through the lens of race. Interpreting the law based on either the defendant's or plaintiff's race is dangerous. Would a white plaintiff or defendant, who comes before the Supreme Court to argue his case, truly believe that such a person as Sotomayor would give him fair consideration?
Americans already have a good idea about how Sotomayor would decide cases where race has become an issue. In 2003, the City of New Haven Connecticut administered a test to determine which city firefighters would be promoted to captain and lieutenant positions. When 19 whites and 1 Hispanic achieved the required scores, but no blacks did so, the City threw out the test and denied those twenty individuals their promotions. Judge Sotomayor, who now sits on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, upheld the decision in Ricci vs. DeStefano. It was clear to at least one other member of the Second Circuit that Sotomayor simply ruled against the firefighters because they were white. The case is now on appeal to the Supreme Court.
There are even more examples that Sotomayor cares more about race than the law and U.S. Constitution. It is a shame that someone so poisonous will occupy a seat on the highest court in America. Every American citizen has the same rights, as the sins of slavery have long since become history. Yet this country will never be able to move past the issue of race if large numbers of Americans, represented by people such as Judge Sotomayor, continue to believe that one's success or plight is chiefly based on their race. As Chief Justice John Roberts so succinctly stated in Parents Involved in Community Schools vs. Seattle School District Number One, the "way to stop discriminating on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race." Only when affirmative action, and its insistence on favoring one class of citizens over another, is eliminated will the issue of race become moot. Judges such as Sonia Sotomayor only prolong racial conflict when they continue to consider one's race in determining how the law should be applied.
Any comments or questions can be received at whyyouareaconservative@gmail.com
~ The Conservative Guy
posted by The Conservative Guy at
4:07 PM
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