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Obama’s choice of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court was a great moment in American history. Beyond the obvious factors of race that are worth celebrating, it is great to see more women being nominated for a court that should represent all Americans.
Currently, only one woman, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, sits on the highest court in the land.
Unfortunately, there are a couple claims about Judge Sotomayor that have been used to undermine her character.
Firstly, she is being called a “racist” by Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, Lou Dobbs and others on the right wing for a comment during her delivery of the Judge Mario G. Olmos Memorial Lecture at UC Berkeley in 2001. During that speech she claimed that, “I would hope that 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.”
Many commentators neglect to mention what she is referring to — cases that involve oppression of minorities and discrimination. They also ignore what she says afterward, “I believe that we should not be so myopic as to believe that others of different experiences or backgrounds are incapable of understanding the values and needs of people from a different group … However, to understand takes time and effort, something that not all people are willing to give.”
Her point is not that white males who have lived a privileged life are inherently unfair to minorities or cannot understand the discrimination others face. She is simply saying it takes some effort for them to empathize.
In reality, some individuals do not put forth the effort to learn the plight of others. This is what leads to poor choices in the administration of the law, i.e. discrimination and immigration.
In Sotomayor’s view, the presence of minorities on a court would lead to more fair decisions in these areas.
There is also an assault on the concept of empathy as a factor in making legal decisions.
Limbaugh and others began by attacking Obama’s claim that empathy will be a factor in his choice of a nominee. They claim that the law is neutral and that it should apply to everyone in a blind manner.
That sounds good but would make no sense in the numerous cases about discrimination that flood the courts. I would not want to live in a country whose legal decisions are decided without keeping the welfare of those affected in mind.
A flaming liberal, up for congressional confirmation for the Supreme Court said, “When a case comes before me involving, let’s say, someone who is an immigrant, and we get an awful lot of immigration cases and naturalization cases, I can’t help but think of my own ancestors, because it wasn’t that long ago when they were in that position. When I get a case about discrimination, I have to think about people in my own family who suffered discrimination because of their ethnic background or because of religion or because of gender. And I do take that into account.”
Oh wait, that wasn’t a flaming liberal. That was Bush’s nominee, Samuel Alito. Empathy is only bad when it applies to the other party, right guys?
Send your comments on Judge Sotomayor to [email protected].