How Racially Biased Is Supreme Court Judge Nominee Sonia Sotomayor?
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on May 27, 2009
By Vicki McClure Davidson * Frugal Café Blog Zone
Sonia Sotomayor nominated for US Supreme Court
Pres. Obama has nominated Sonia Sotomayor to replace retiring David Souter for the US Supreme Court.
Not a promising nomination. There are so many others, minorities or not, who are far better qualified and less racially biased than Sotomayor.
And no, despite the deafening applause and cheering from the going-bananas liberal media (treating her like a pop star, for the love of Mike), Sotomayor is NOT the first minority judge to be considered for the Supreme Court who grew up with adversity, hardship, or poverty. Just check out Clarence Thomas’ background sometime. He was a descendant of black slaves and grew up in a broken family. (Cool if he’s liberal, blow him off if he isn’t). Thomas did the unthinkable and decided to not embrace the “party of welfare.” He doesn’t count as a minority with a compelling story about overcoming a difficult background because (sniff) the liberal mainstream media will only sing the praises of other liberals. Thomas isn’t a liberal, so to most major news sources, he’s invisible. Minority conservatives with personal stories of overcoming hurdles and hardships are pretty much ignored by the biased media (another disdainful sniff).
Liberal minority hardship = Good and honorable. Conservative minority hardship = We’re not listening.
But Thomas IS inspirational, nonetheless. I just picked up, for a song at Goodwill, his autobiography My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir. So far, it’s brilliant.
Is Sotomayor as inspirational as Thomas? That should not matter. Selecting a Supreme Court judge is not an affirmative action project.
If you only look at her life story and hardships she’s endured, yes, Sotomayor’s past and how she elevated herself is indeed inspiring. Does that make her a prime candidate for the Supreme Court? Hardly.
You need to look at what she’s done as a judge. Of what mettle and temperament she is. And when you do examine that, it’s not inspiring. Close your eyes to her body of professional work, rulings track record, or her publicly expressed, racially biased opinions as a Court of Appeals judge and you naively ignore who she is and what talents and skills she will bring to our highest court in America.
“Racial bias” may be very well be Sonia’s middle name.
“Judge Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court would be very concerning given her hard-left record on the Court of Appeals, where she is recognized by practitioners as one of the more liberal judges.
-Judge Sotomayor’s personal views may cloud her jurisprudence. As Judge Sotomayor explained in a 2002 speech at Berkeley, she believes it is appropriate for a judge to consider their “experiences as women and people of color” in their decisionmaking, which she believes should “affect our decisions.”
-Only just recently, in Ricci v. DeStefano, Judge Sotomayor was chastised by fellow Clinton-appointee Jose Cabranes for going to extraordinary lengths to dispense with claims of unfair treatment raised by firefighters. Judge Sotomayor’s panel heard a case raising important questions under Title VII and equal protection law, but attempted to dispose of the firefighter’s arguments in a summary order, until called out by Judge Cabranes. The Supreme Court has agreed to review the case.
-Substantial questions also persist regarding Judge Sotomayor’s temperament and disposition to be a Supreme Court justice. Lawyers who have appeared before her have described her as a “bully” who “does not have a very good temperament,” and who “abuses lawyers” with “inappropriate outbursts.”
From Fort Hard Knox: Thanks, Obama, Now Dump Her
…I understand the need to be “inclusive” in your decision to select Sonia Sotomayor for the highest court in the land. You have shown you are “inclusive” by selecting somebody with brown skin. Very good. You get brown-brownie points for that. Now let’s find somebody more qualified and less activist.
You see President Obama, skin color does not mean a damn thing. As a Hispanic, I can tell you my skin color does not have any magic potion. Sure, I was tempted to take the easy route. I could have let flaming liberals feel sorry for me and make me more “inclusive.” It would have been easy to take the affirmative action road–free stuff and no accountability. Instead, I focused on hard work and individual responsibility. Somehow, I don’t think most people will say to me, “Gosh, you must be smart and qualified. Your skin color is brown.”
Sonia Sotomayor is a walking billboard for affirmative action. From high school to the present, she has had her hand out to the liberal establishment. She has gone to the front of the line because of her brown skin. Has anybody bothered to ask how a poor Puerto Rican got into a rich, exclusive high school that she couldn’t afford? What about her grades in high school or college? What about her admonishments as a judge for poor quality work? What about being overturned so many times? What about her activist judge viewpoints? Is she qualified or does she have the right skin color?
Think about it.
From Hot Air: The Opportunity on Sotomayor
The Republicans have an opportunity with Sotomayor that doesn’t involve knocking her off the court. They have an opportunity to use the hearings to show Sotomayor as a routine appellate jurist with a spotty record who got elevated to this position as an act of political hackery by a President who couldn’t care less about his responsibilities to find the best and brightest for the job.
Like many of Obama’s other appointments, it demonstrates a lack of executive talent and intellectual curiosity on his part.
Related posts:
Michelle Malkin: The Supreme Court high hurdles contest
Pronk Palisades: Rule of Law or Rule of Judges–Yakkety Yak–You Know–It Takes A Racist To Appoint A Racist!
Hot Air: The opportunity on Sotomayor and NYT: Political considerations, life experience only good if we like the results and Sonia Sotomayor’s greatest hits and McCaskill fumbles the “incredible life story” meme and Obama picks Sotomayor for SCOTUS slot
Greg Gutfeld, Big Hollywood: Daily Gut: The Reign of Race
Grand Rants: Sotomayor on Video (Sotomayor’s Outrageous Comments)
First Things – The Anchoress: Sotomayor for SCOTUS? (UPDATED)
Jonah Goldberg, National Review Online: Empathy vs. Impartiality
The Autopsy: The Sotomayor Story
Politico: White House urged to address ‘racist’ charge
Ed Whelan, Bench Memos, National Review Online: Her Majesty Sonia Sotomayor vs. the Rule of Law
NewsBusters: Liberal Jonathan Turley: Sotomayor Lacks Intellectual Depth
James Hudnall, Big Hollywood: What’s ‘Latina’ Got to do With It?
Latest Technology News – Business News and Expert Advice: Couric and Schieffer Gush Over Sotomayor’s ‘Very, Very Compelling’ Bio
Washington Times: Sotomayor reversed 60% by high court
John Romano, Big Hollywood: Race Only Matters When it Favors Democrats
Fire Andrea Mitchell!: Sonia Sotomayor – Racist and Sexist hispanic picked by Obama to replace David Souter for SCOTUS
Greg Gutfeld, Big Hollywood: Daily Gut: You Win, I’m Racist!
Stuff about Stuff: How to Stop Sotomayor
Jules Crittenden: Blood Sport
Swampland: Sotomayor and The Culture Wars
National Catholic Register: Sotomayor’s Catholicism
About the author
Given what we have all learned about Obama, does this really surprise us?
He is showing the American People his B$TT.
He maligns America when he is overseas, and has been chastised for that by foreign leaders.
He is weak on foreign policy, and a thug on domestic policy.
He has built an administration that strong-arms large companies, banks, medical industry, and who knows what else.
The American tax-payer has a ring in our nose.
We have no representative on capital hill that can stop BO’s drive to socialism;… currently.
2010 is an extremely important election. Be there !!!!!!!!!!
Well said, my friend.