Sonia Sotomayor:Unacceptable

As many of you are no doubt aware, President Obama has made his choice for the Supreme Court seat being vacated by Justice Souter. In July of 2007 at a Planned Parenthood gathering Obama indicated that when he was elected his Supreme Court nominees would be chosen by qualifications other than adherence to the Constitution of the United States. He claimed that he wanted Justices that were empathetic to the plight of single mothers, empathetic to the plight of minorities in America. This brings us to his first nominee to the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor. American’s should rejoice the selection of a Latino woman for a position on the Supreme Court. But at the same time they should combat her potential confirmation with all their might.

There is plenty to fear if this woman is confirmed to fill Justice Souter’s vacated seat on the bench. According to the research conducted by Jeffrey Rosen for his article in The New Republic it would appear that there are quite a few of Judge Sotomayor’s colleagues that are critical of her judicial skills. For instance fellow Judge Jose Cabranes remarks about a ruling on a case in which Sotomayor took part in that the ruling makes “no reference whatsoever to the constitutional issues at the core of this case.” This should cause rational, intelligent human beings ask the question, if she didn’t rule on the issues relevant to the case what did she base her ruling on? Check out the article at The New Republic to see some of the other comments from her colleagues and clerks. I found it quite enlightening.

Furthermore comments made by Judge Sotomayor herself should constitute enough evidence to disqualify her from service on the United States Supreme Court. Most people have already heard or read this, but I feel that it is important enough to be reiterated. In a speech in 2001 at the University of California at Berkley Judge Sotomayor stated “I would hope that a wise Latina women with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male that hasn’t lived that life.” First of all, the nationality and gender of a judge should not affect his/her rulings. This comment made by Sotomayor indicates that she believes otherwise. Let me once again make this clear, the laws of our land do not change based on the justices gender or nationality. In addition to this her comments indicate that she believes that a Latino woman is superior to a white man. Clearly this belief paints her as not just a racist, but a sexist as well.

It should be fairly easy to defeat the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court, but unfortunately there are too many Senators in Washington DC that let the party do the thinking for them. I am afraid that Sotomayor’s confirmation is all too likely to happen, but that doesn’t mean that we should not try. Contact your Senator’s to tell them that Judge Sotomayor is an unsatisfactory nominee for the Supreme Court. Tell them that you want Obama to appoint someone that understands the limits of the judicial branch of government.