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More Sides of Sotomayor |
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Prayer-Soldier writes "
Commentary: Despite all of the rhetoric being espoused over the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, it highly likely she will be confirmed. One would have to question, then, what is the purpose for the demonizing? The answer is that it seems to be the only way our political parties are able to communicate. The Republicans can't help themselves just as the Democrats could not help themselves when they filibustered the nomination of Judge Samual Alito.
According to a Real Clear Politics article published 26 May 09, then Senator Obama stated in Jan 06, “I have no doubt that Judge Alito has the training and qualifications necessary to serve as a Supreme Court Justice. He's a smart guy, there's no indication that he is not a man of good character, but, when you look at his record, what is clear is that when it comes to his understanding of the Constitution, he consistently sides on behalf of the powerful against the powerless.”
In defense of Sotomayor, according to a 29 May 09 MSNBC article, now President Obama stated, “what’s clear is that she was simply saying that her life experiences will give her information about the struggles and hardships that people are going through.” The President's litmus test for Supreme Court Justices, then, appears to be empathy rather than the ability to interpret the Constitution.
Regardless of the political intent of Republican or Democrat Presidents, what we must hope from judges is that they will raise above politics and remain true to the interpretation of our Constitution. Our forefathers established a government with checks and balances to prevent abuses of power and tyranny over the governed. One of those checks is a judiciary that is able to interpret when the actions of the executive branch (our President), the laws of the legislative branch (our Congress) or both threaten the rights guaranteed to us by our Constitution.
Still, it is politicians that nominate and confirm the judiciary, so the very process itself is politicized. Each side attempts to gain public support by demonizing each other or the nominee. Democrats demonized Alito as rendering opinions in favor of corporate discrimination and the strip search of a 10 year old girl. According to a 21 Nov 05 report by FactCheck.org, the political ads to demonize Alito were true, but only about the subject matter of the case, not the law to be interpreted.
If Sotomayor were nominated by a Republican President, the likely Democratic attack add would reference that Sotomayor rendered opinions against a “woman's right to chose.” While there were two cases Sotomayor reviewed that involved the subject of abortion, by reading the opinions of the court, the law Sotomayor interpreted had nothing to do with supporting pro-life positions.
The conservative concerns over Sotomayor is whether she might be an activist judge who seeks to legislate from the bench rather than interpret the law. To prove their point, they point to statements she has made indicating that judicial opinions might be based on something more than interpretations of the law.
In the transcript of her 2001 speech to the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, as posted by the New York Times, 14 May 09; Sotomayor stated, “I further accept that our experiences as women and people of color affect our decisions. The aspiration to impartiality is just that--it's an aspiration because it denies the fact that we are by our experiences making different choices than others. Not all women or people of color, in all or some circumstances or indeed in any particular case or circumstance but enough people of color in enough cases, will make a difference in the process of judging.”
She goes on to say, “The Judicature Journal has at least two excellent studies on how women on the courts of appeal and state supreme courts have tended to vote more often than their male counterpart to uphold women's claims in sex discrimination cases and criminal defendants' claims in search and seizure cases. As recognized by legal scholars, whatever the reason, not one woman or person of color in any one position but as a group we will have an effect on the development of the law and on judging. “
Sotomayor concludes, “For others, their experiences limit their ability to understand the experiences of others. Other simply do not care. Hence, one must accept the proposition that a difference there will be by the presence of women and people of color on the bench. Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see. My hope is that I will take the good from my experiences and extrapolate them further into areas with which I am unfamiliar. I simply do not know exactly what that difference will be in my judging. But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage.”
There is a case to be made that we are all shaped by our heritage and experience, but for members of the Supreme Court, they must aspire higher. The interpretation of the Constitution must be to protect the rights of all, regardless of race, creed, color or gender. The rights of our Constitution must be for all, not for political special interests.
The side of Sotomayor that must be examined is whether her opinions are true to the law or true to something else. Speeches and membership in associations express personal opinions, but we are all entitled to our opinion. Whether she corrects the spelling of colleagues is of little consequence. If, however, she is likely to sway the law based upon personal bias, then, there is a question of justice.
Where we fall on either side of the political spectrum should not matter in what we seek in a Supreme Court Justice. We should not allow the politicization of the Constitution. We must seek appointees that are committed to preserving the intent of the Constitution and the balance against tyranny for which it was established. When either side looses sight of the importance of Constitutional justice, we place the freedom of our nation at risk.
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Posted on Monday, June 01 @ 21:51:00 MDT by drbonebrake
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