Poll: Americans Want Native American on Supreme Court
By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers
The president has cheered diversity on the Supreme Court with his nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, who would be the first Hispanic and third woman to be appointed to the bench. For his next pick, we turned to you in our most recent Whispers poll.
Respondents chose racial diversity over religious diversity or difference in sexual orientation. A whopping 50 percent of those surveyed said they would like to see President Obama choose a Native American for the Supreme Court if the president got a second selection. Nineteen percent said they would like to see Obama appoint an Asian and 16 percent an African-American justice. Only 13 percent hoped to see a gay or lesbian justice as Obama's next pick. And coming in last, with 2 percent, was a Muslim justice.
The Whispers Poll
President Obama appears eager to bring diversity to the Supreme Court, having picked the first Hispanic to sit on the bench. If presented with a second chance, which should he pick?
| Native American | 50% |
|---|---|
| Asian | 19% |
| African-American | 16% |
| Gay or lesbian | 13% |
| Muslim | 2% |
Source: The Synovate eNation Internet poll was conducted July 27-29 among 1,000 nationally representative households by global market research firm Synovate.
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Tags: Supreme Court | Barack Obama | Sonia Sotomayor
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Reader Comments
How do i contact
Jody Gillette or Kimberly Teehee?
I have an important question regarding Native American Veterans and the taxes that were illegally deducted from their military pay.
The SSCRA of 1940 stated Native American military were exempt and not to have taxes deducted from military pay. However this went on untill 2001!
In July 2002 the department of defense issued DD 2058-2 which is a form specifically for Native Americans to request tax exemption of military pay.
The government finally admitted to and stopped this illegal taxation in 2001 but Native Americans serving from 1940-2001 were unjustly taxed.
I want Jody Gillette or Kimberly Teehee to bring this matter to the attention of the President.
Obama's cabinet appointments
June 15, 2009; Kim Teehee, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, has been named as senior policy advisor for Native American affairs at the White House. President Barack Obama, who promised to create the position during the campaign, announced Teehee's selection in a video message to the National Congress of American Indians. "She is rightly recognized as an outstanding advocate for Indian Country, and she will provide a direct interface at the highest level of my Administration, assuring a voice for Native Americans during policy making decisions," said Obama, who also told tribal leaders he will hold his first Indian summit later this fall.
Teehee is well known for her work on Capitol Hill. She has served as senior advisor to Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Michigan), the co-chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus.
Teehee joins Jodi Gillette, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, as the Native American staffers at the White House. Other Native appointees to the Obama administration include: Larry EchoHawk, a member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, as head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; Yvette Roubideaux, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, as director of the Indian Health Service; and Mary Smith, a member of the Cherokee Nation, as assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice.
Hilary Tompkins, a member of the Navajo Nation, has been nominated as Solicitor of the Department of the Interior but has not yet been confirmed. (As of this date she has been confirmed.)
This is just an example.
Again, I ask you, should he seat a Native American on the court? If not, why not? If so, who?
Don't be fooled
"Whites think that's what they've done but all they did was engage in preference. The proof of that is Harriet Myers."
Her nomination is a perfect example of preference trumping jurist prudence. For whatever reason her status as a "conservative female" held more weight than her ability to interpet law. If she had been native, african, male, or asian she still would have been a lousy pick.
Assuming "most qualified" is code for "white male" is foolish and only feeds into the divisiveness that dominates meaningful political discourse.
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