Friday, July 17, 2009

Would a "Wise Latina" Really Have Said That?

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I really haven't dissected Ms. Sotomayor's remark here, but you've heard it enough times every where else that it is practically un muerto caballo!

But, here's a couple things I really haven't heard any place else, so here's my take on it.

"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."


First: Would a truly "wise" Latina have said that? Remember, that it was not a casual remark, but a scripted part of her speech that she repeated over a number of years. It may have had the intended effect on her immediate audiences, but the "wisdom" of saying that a wise person from one ethnic group would "reach a better conclusion" than someone of the opposite sex or different ethnicity escapes me!

Second, even if it were true of a superior or municipal court judge, appellate court justices are not supposed to be focused on the outcome of the verdicts, but whether or not the law and the Constitution were followed by the lower courts in reaching that outcome.

Here, forgive me, I'd rather have an analytical justice, conversant in the law and the Constitution to examine the process, not empathize with the outcome!

So, unless the "richness of her experience" is pouring over Constitution law and mountains of legal texts, I would say that a justice with a good analytical mind trumps the mushy, squishy richness of her diverse upbringing!


As a bonus, here's video of Sotomayor answering an off the wall question, before funnyman wannabee Al Franken finishes asking it:



She must have had a copy of the question before hand. Had I been a candidate for SCOTUS and someone asked me a stupid question about a fictional TV lawyer, I'm sure I would have sat in stunned silence for at least a few moments, as the audacity of some fool asking such a worthless question sunk in. Here, she doesn't even wait for him to stop talking before she jumps in to answer! Clearly a scripted moment, with Sotomayor in on the script!

3 comments:

  1. Thanks! I've got you on my blog roll under "Food for Thought".

    ReplyDelete
  2. So much for Obama's "post-racial" America.

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  3. "So much for Obama's "post-racial" America."

    A lot of Obama's campaign rhetoric is inoperative, to put it kindly!

    ReplyDelete