Race and Gender and the U.S. Supreme Court Bench

Just a quick thought on Obama’s recent nomination of a Hispanic female to the U.S. Supreme Court. Every article I see and every string of comments I see about this on the web includes some comment about the historic nature of appointing the first Latino and the third ever woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. I even noticed one article titled “Latinos Rejoice in Sotomayor Nomination.” available at http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/.

 

Excitement over the race and gender of a Supreme Court nominee is all well and good, but how about a balanced dialogue about her qualifications and her approach to the role of a judge in the American Common Law system – particularly about her understanding of the role of the judiciary in interpreting and applying the U.S. Constitution?

 

Contrary to President Obama’s misguided rhetoric, those qualifications do not and should not have anything to do with the current nominee’s “compassion” and “feelings” – two words with dangerously variable interpretations and applications that have nothing to do with interpreting and applying the U.S. Constitution, and everything to do with individual perspective and preference. Of course, Judge Sotomayor already understands that. As she explained in a 2001 speech, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." Bill Mears & Robert Yoon, CNN, Sotomayor: Gender, ethnicity should influence judges, available at http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/. Wow. Frankly, I prefer Chief Justice Roberts’ explanation of his role in the judiciary. When visiting the B.Y.U. School of Law about a year and a half ago, a student asked how Justice Roberts’ judicial philosophy affects his role on the bench. The reply? “When a case involves a statute, I begin by reading the statute and discovering what it says.”

 

And how about the strength of her opinions that have been reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court? Of the at least eight opinions authored by Judge Sotomayor that have been reviewed by the U.S. Supreme court, 6 have been overturned, one is currently on review (in that case Judge Sotomayor held that a firefighter promotion test was invalid because not enough minorities passed it), and in the one that was upheld, “Sotomayor’s legal reasoning was panned in the opinion signed by the entire court.” Robert Yoon, CNN Research Director, Past Sotomayor rulings faced tough crown on high court, available at http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/.

 

Feelings? Yeah, I’ve got a feeling, and it’s not a good one, but what do I know about the judicial role in upholding the rule of law in these United States? I’m just a white male. I’ve never “lived that life.”