Comments on: Sonia Sotomayor:Unacceptable

By: abregar

abregar — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:21:26 +0000

Nice article Jerry, but it doesn’t address what was being discussed on this thread. You stated that the courts can make law. IR brought up Sotomayor’s comment that courts cannot make law. She then asked if this made Sotomayor a liar to which you responded with an article about policy. Like I said a nicely written article but irrelevant to this thread.

By: abregar

abregar — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:02:26 +0000

So based on your comments here you are okay with racism as long as it is not being perpetrated by a white man.

I will reiterate once again what you have failed to respond to. Racism is unacceptable regardless the source.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:01:04 +0000

Why appeals courts actually do make policy:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/06/01/sotomayor_was_right_appellate_judges_do_make_policy/?ref=fpd

By: abregar

abregar — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:00:45 +0000

I would rather have a straight white man making decisions based upon the law and the constitution than a Latino woman making decisions based on her “experiences.”

Supreme Court Justices are supposed to make decisions based on existing law and the constitution, not their pasts.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:51:20 +0000

That will be good. Many voices make wise choices. We don’t want straight white men making all the decisions.

By: iowanforabetteriowa

iowanforabetteriowa — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:39:01 +0000

Riddle me this Batman – if your house is on fire who do you want showing up to put it out, a white fireman who passed all the test in the firemans code or a hispanic or black fireman who got their job through affirmitive action. Remember sotomayor will be making these decisions.

By: Iowans Rock

Iowans Rock — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 02:26:56 +0000

So, when Sotomayor admitted to Duke University during a speech that judges are unable to make law she was lying.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:49:56 +0000

Courts make laws all the time. It’s known as “case law.” Most of law school is about studying case law.

Legislators write lots of bills badly. Many of them are near-idiots when it comes to scholarly pursuits like law. It’s inevitable that courts have to parse the language of the statute to make sense of it. In the process, the courts make law (policy).

Other cases arise when laws have not yet been written but one party sues another. What’s a court to do? They decide the case and thus they make new case law.

By: DannyBoy

DannyBoy — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:52:43 +0000

Didn’t President Bush attempt to appoint a Latino to a Federal Court and the Democrats shot him down because they didn’t want a Republican to appoint the first Latino?

By: Woodrow

Woodrow — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 06:52:00 +0000

Once again you sure have a knack for trivializing the momentous and complicating the obvious Jerry. Do you think 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?I could say the same about a latina woman. But if i did then i would be racist. Reverse racism isn’t good either. For her to make that comment would depend on the case she is making a judgement on. A white male would have different views on different type of cases as well. It all depends on the type of case. Her comment that the courts are where policy is made. I thought the judges are to decide court cases based on the laws not make laws. And if the supreme court rules the law is unconstitutional then its up to congress to make a new laws. Hell if thats the case then we dont need congress around at all to make laws we will just have courts do it. I don’t think you would want courts making laws when you can’t be 100% unbiased and uninfluenced by activists or lobbyists.