Obama's Choice of Sotomayor Is a Political Balancing Act
Sotomayor could prove to be a tricky target for Republicans
After weeks of speculation, President Barack Obama has picked a new justice for the U.S. Supreme Court: federal appeals court Judge Sonia Sotomayor, a Democrat, who would be the first Hispanic and third woman to serve on the nation's highest court. If confirmed, Sotomayor will replace the retiring Justice David Souter.
Although Obama said this morning that he looked for justices who had both "rigorous intellect" and "an understanding that a judge's job is to interpret, not make law," he contended that those qualities are not enough. "We need something more," he said. "It is experience that can give a person a common touch, a sense of compassion; an understanding of how the world works and how ordinary people live."
Born to Puerto Rican parents, Sotomayor, 54, grew up in a housing project in the south Bronx. Her father died when she was 9, leaving her mother, a nurse, to raise her and her brother on modest means. But Sotomayor's career took her far beyond the shadow of Yankee Stadium. A graduate of Princeton and Yale Law School, she was chosen for the U.S. District Court of New York by former President George H. W. Bush, who also chose Souter for the Supreme Court. Since 1998, she has been on the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City, to which she was nominated by President Bill Clinton. "This wealth of experiences, personal and professional, have helped me appreciate the variety of perspectives that present themselves in every case that I hear," Sotomayor said in remarks this morning. "I strive never to forget the real-world consequences of my decisions on individuals, businesses, and government."
Along with her breadth of experience, having been nominated to her positions from both sides of the aisle helps make Sotomayor a politically savvy pick for the president, who has had to balance hopes that he would maintain the court's political balance and increase its diversity against his spoken commitment to bipartisanship. In many ways, Sotomayor does both. She could also prove to be a tricky target for Republicans, both because of the sensitivity of her gender and race and because the Republicans have seen their Hispanic vote slide dramatically, from George W. Bush's 44 percent in 2004 to John McCain's 31 percent in 2008.
Even so, conservative groups came out strongly against Sotomayor before Obama even made his announcement, calling her a liberal activist with her own agenda. One episode on which they focused was a controversial decision upholding the ruling of the city of New Haven, Conn., regarding a promotion exam for firefighters. That decision allowed the city to scrap the exam's results when no African-Americans qualified for promotions. The case has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and a ruling is expected before the term's end.
The president arrived at his decision over Memorial Day weekend and made his announcement Tuesday morning. His shortlist included Judge Diane Wood of Chicago, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Sotomayor's nomination will now go to the Senate, which, being under Democratic control, seems likely to confirm her.
Reader Comments
No to M. Jabbe, Reimann, and intj of nc
Some of these commentators mentioned belief in the nonexistent Devil, said "We are all children of God," and used the word "Sodomite" as if sexual intercourse should be denied to homosexuals. I believe that a homosexual couple will love one another even if both were in artificial lungs all their lives after they fell in love, and never touch one another after that. The proposed justice isn't male like the majority of the court, who can never become pregnant. A man can read about pregnancy and how it causes nausea, heartburn, varicose veins, stretch marks, piles, swollen and aching breasts, loss of balance, insomnia, etc., but it never can happen to him, There is a phrase about pregnancy "putting a girl in trouble." We should expect all the judges to make rulings that show they all understand why man and women must never be forced to be parents.
Just Wondering
In times of political correctness, or as I like to call it WASP censorship. It seems that if a minority makes a comment on the evil white man that it is not considered racist but a joke or a observation. Look at comedians like Spike Lee and Chris Rock. They make their living yelling about "the white man". Now call me stupid but her words she chose didn't show good judgment in a time when all must be mindful of there words especially people with great responsibility or in the media. Now my second part of my rant is that she DID belong to an organization that discriminated against men. That in itself is law in the supreme court that screams not qualified. Other judge hopefuls where turned down in the past because of it. Now she suddenly quits her little woman's power trip club because she is wanting a job that will involve the aspects of everyone's lives. My last thought is why was she turned down the last time she was chosen? Why is she all the sudden the right person to sit on the supreme court now. Is it because of the historic first theme we are seeing lately from the white house? No I am not a hate bigot or a hatemonger. I am for immigrants so long as they do it legally. I don't care what color your skin is so long as you are a good person. I have seen a lot of very qualified majorities lose jobs to not so qualified minorities because of job quotas and so forth.
Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court
An Excellent Choice
I believe that the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the highest court of the land by President Obama was the best desition at this moment. I also believe that a woman of humble origins who has risen to the top of her profession, is exactly what our country needs to difersify the Supreme Court. I also believe that as a Puerto Rican I am personally insulted by various racist & bigoted comments from political commentators affiliated with the Republican Party. The Republican Party has a long and well established reputation as anti-immigrant and anti-minority. However, I never expected that the party that lost the past national elections would try to commit political suicide by being so obviously biased in their public comments about the first superbly qualified Latina to be ever nominated to the Supreme Court. Let me warn the Republican Party that if they persist in their quest to kill this nomination, they will never again can count on the support of the hispanic vote in national elections. In fact, they can count on the Democratic Party reminding hispanic voters of this particular offense, constantly!
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