Post flakking for Sotomayor
You’ve probably read that the Supreme Court overturned the lower appeals court decision against some New Haven, CT firefighters in what may turn out to be a landmark case. the best analysis I’ve seen of the decision is at Ace of Spades by Gabriel Malor here and here. The Washington Times describes why decision is important in the short term;
Judge Sotomayor, President Obama’s nominee to fill the seat of retiring Justice David Souter, was one of three judges who ruled in favor of New Haven and part of the majority that rejected a full hearing before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The ruling is already being seen as a hurdle Judge Sotomayor will have to overcome next month when she goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Rep. Tom Price, Georgia Republican and chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, said the ruling is a reason to slow down her confirmation process and study her record.
The Washington Post Robert Barnes shows us what the next tactic to protect Sotomayor from Conservative charges that she’s out of touch with the Supreme Court and so doesn’t belong there.
The New Haven case, Ricci v. DeStefano, has become the ruling that Sotomayor’s critics most point to for evidence that she lets her background influence her decisions, even though her role has been somewhat inflated.
Her role was somewhat inflated? What does that even mean? If she voted on a panel of judges and she had the same number of votes as the other judges, how did Conservatives inflate her role?
Then Barnes writes;
The case then went to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, where Sotomayor and judges Robert Sack and Rosemary S. Pooler heard the appeal. Oral arguments lasted an hour, with Sotomayor leading the questioning, as is her reputation.
She was one third of a panel and lead the questioning. What’s to inflate about that? Stupid Washington Post.
What exactly is the conservative argument with respect to Sotomayor and the Ricci case? Her ruling on the subject was the same as the trial judge, the other two judges on the panel, a majority of the judges in her circuit (presumably – they at least voted to deny rehearing), and 4 of the 9 Supreme Court justices. Doesn’t that indicate that her position was at least a reasonable interpretation of the law (even if it was not ultimately correct)?
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Um, lurker, there have been other cases where the SCOTUS has ruled that establishing a racial presence into the process of promotion/admission is not legal, it’s, in fact, discriminatory. So, the entire 2nd Circuit was remiss in their interpretation of the law.
The money portion of the case is that “the other two judges” and a “majority of the judges in her circuit” haven’t been nominated to the SCOTUS. As to the 4 Supremes who voted to allow New Haven to discriminate, they are still trying to social engineer from the bench. The country needs them to be replaced, not add to their number. And, I know, she’s just replacing Souter. Who, incidentally, was wrong on his last big case on the SCOTUS.