Spring Break
Justice Sotomayor deserves a fair trial
By: Ian McPhail
Issue date: 6/2/09 Section: Opinion
As Judge Souter retires from the Supreme Court, Barack Obama has delivered on his campaign promise of bipartisan cooperation by nominating a woman like Sonia Sotomayor. Unlike former president George W. Bush's 2005 nominee Harriet Miers, Sotomayor is clearly qualified for her position on the Supreme Court and will hopefully help unite the country under an administration willing to look past party lines. Senators should avoid the deranged opinions of muckrakers like Rush Limbaugh and quickly confirm her.
Unlike Bush's comical Miers, Sotomayor already proved herself as a judge. Educated at both Princeton and Yale, she is currently a Circuit judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. More importantly, Sotomayor has proven herself to be capable of bipartisan appeal through her selection by George H.W. Bush as Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. While Souter's rulings have fallen more often on the left side of the political spectrum, Sotomayor's decisions have not been reliably liberal. Given the ideology of Obama and the Democratic-controlled Senate, the selection of a moderate liberal for the nation's highest tribunal seems incredibly reasonable.
One comment has turned ridiculous right pundits against Sotomayor. In 2001, she said, "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." This has provoked Limbaugh to accuse Sotomayor of reverse racism. However, as Limbaugh felt it was appropriate to play a song called "Barack the Magic Negro" on his program, he has rightly been accused of old-fashioned racism in this instance.
Thankfully, Limbaugh has not been nominated to the Supreme Court, and his racist radio utterings will not be called out in front of a live television audience of millions. It is up to Sotomayor to defend her 2001 statement before the Senate, but her record on rulings should carry more importance than a single sentence given in a speech eight years ago at the University of California-Berkeley Law School. It seems obvious that Sotomayor was including her own personal struggles as an impoverished Latina growing up in the Bronx without a father for half of her childhood.
Pundits and politicians should not be so quick to label a Latina woman as racist. Right-wing commentators are using a single statement as a distraction from her record and Obama's effort to unite the country behind a reasonably moderate selection. Critics of the administration should find legitimate fault in Sotomayor, instead of attempting to create a nonsense smoke and mirrors ruse like another monster from Lost. Americans should recognize the president's efforts to bring the country together, and ignore those attempting to tear the nation apart through ridiculous accusations.
Unlike Bush's comical Miers, Sotomayor already proved herself as a judge. Educated at both Princeton and Yale, she is currently a Circuit judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. More importantly, Sotomayor has proven herself to be capable of bipartisan appeal through her selection by George H.W. Bush as Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. While Souter's rulings have fallen more often on the left side of the political spectrum, Sotomayor's decisions have not been reliably liberal. Given the ideology of Obama and the Democratic-controlled Senate, the selection of a moderate liberal for the nation's highest tribunal seems incredibly reasonable.
One comment has turned ridiculous right pundits against Sotomayor. In 2001, she said, "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." This has provoked Limbaugh to accuse Sotomayor of reverse racism. However, as Limbaugh felt it was appropriate to play a song called "Barack the Magic Negro" on his program, he has rightly been accused of old-fashioned racism in this instance.
Thankfully, Limbaugh has not been nominated to the Supreme Court, and his racist radio utterings will not be called out in front of a live television audience of millions. It is up to Sotomayor to defend her 2001 statement before the Senate, but her record on rulings should carry more importance than a single sentence given in a speech eight years ago at the University of California-Berkeley Law School. It seems obvious that Sotomayor was including her own personal struggles as an impoverished Latina growing up in the Bronx without a father for half of her childhood.
Pundits and politicians should not be so quick to label a Latina woman as racist. Right-wing commentators are using a single statement as a distraction from her record and Obama's effort to unite the country behind a reasonably moderate selection. Critics of the administration should find legitimate fault in Sotomayor, instead of attempting to create a nonsense smoke and mirrors ruse like another monster from Lost. Americans should recognize the president's efforts to bring the country together, and ignore those attempting to tear the nation apart through ridiculous accusations.
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