We have an extraordinary president and he makes extraordinary moments a norm. Ms.Sonia Sodomayor the nations first Hispanic Supreme court justice, created history today. She broke glass ceilings with her eminent qualifications, being a woman & Latino, impressive.
It may appear to be a cliffhanger for Obama’s appointment to the Supreme Court, but the word from the Washington Post Tuesday is, that with the assistance of Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, the one lone Republican and the twelve Democrats of the Senate Judicial Committee finally confirmed Sonya Sotomayor for the Supreme Court! That means six Republicans said no. Graham says that he feels good about Sotomayor. Speaking on judges, he said that “sometimes they have left our ideals down”. And they have often seen the larger picture through the Constitution, when many of us weren’t able to move away from our beliefs. He said the questioning of Sessions, although he was entitled to his inquiries, will tend to run individuals away, who would be good judges.
He said that his colleagues of the Senate Judicial Committee “have a chance to respond” and “being a judge is different”, “the law should be a quiet and unpopular place” because something more than 50+1 is going on. He referred to Sotomayor as “competent, not just qualified”, “left of center” “of good character” and pointed out that her 12-year record doesn’t show activism. The other story is that the speeches and advocacy needed to be put into context of what she was talking about, did bug the hell out of him, but she embraces her ability to speak on an opinion even though it may not be the position that he would take. “We are 200 years old as a nation and the fact that she is the first Hispanic woman to be chosen is very important”, “she meets the qualifications test”. If she can inspire other Latina women to seek law as a profession then America would be moving forward and a better nation for having done so.
Depending on whom you read, there is rumor that if Republicans block her nomination, they will have hell to pay in their Hispanic districts. Mind you these guys still have to go home and run for their positions. Others say that they are staying true to their base (conservatives) by looking at Sotomayor through moderate glasses. So hopefully the rest of the voting will be a formality at best for the rest of the Senate. The Supreme Court convenes in September so Judge Sista Girl, and I do mean this affectionately, can take her place, as one of newest human rights liberals, on the nine member high bench. I can see Judge Roberts, and crew reaching for the Maalox.
Sotomayor is only 55-years-old, appears to be in great health, has spunk and many years left to live (looking at the perseverance and sacrifice of her mom). We can only hope Sotomayor will continue reviewing cases and passing down her judgments as she has done for the past 17 years as a federal judge. Sotomayor will be replacing Judge Suter who was appointed by Bush
The conservative base of the Republican Party is disagreeing with Graham. They believe she is disguising her views and guarding her personal views. Now if you were in the running for a judgeship and there stood a chance that your personal views may direct your judgment, would you send off firecrackers and a strobe light to forewarn this squeamish bunch? After all of these caustic statements, is that all they have come up with?
I don’t think so. . . .There is still rumor though that there will be a last minute shockwave of revelation, but many pundits believe this is the usual Republican drama being played out, to keep us watching the CSPAN proceedings. And you can bet there are a few of us making time to watch the saga unfold.
She may not ideologically change the balance of the court, however, I’m sure she can write some hellfire responses. She is the third woman and the first Latina to be a member of the all boys club. Wow! Obama, will everything you touch create continual drama? Well, at least, they are paying close attention. Viva La Raza Sotomayor! Viva! Viva!
REFERENCES:
Picture from: http://www.voanews.com
http://lgraham.senate.gov/public/
http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=10812499
When Barack Obama became President of the United States, the Republican Party decided to become the Party of “No.”
When President Obama appointed Sonia Sotomayer to become the next Supreme Court justice, the Party of No decided to vote “No” on that appointment.
Today, in the confirmation hearing, Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona grilled Judge Sotomayer about the “wise Latina” phrase that Sotomayer had used in speeches that she had given to law students.
Judge Sotomayer was a District Court Judge for 6 years, and she has been an Appeals Court Judge for almost 11 years. She has ruled in thousands of cases and written hundreds of opinions, but Senator Kyl is not asking about her judicial activity. That would require a lot of homework, and Kyl might not find anything in her judicial activity that Kyl can use against her.
As a member of the Party of No, Senator Kyl has already decided to vote “No” on Sotomayor's nomination. Now, he is searching for a reasonable excuse for his “No” vote.
Some news anchors have speculated about the number of senators that will vote in favor of Sotomayor's nomination. Is that really of any importance? We already know that 40 senators belong to the Party of No, so we cannot really expect many of them to vote for Sotomayor. Perhaps the most interesting results will be those of the Republican senators who are up for reelection in 2010: Shelby (AL), Murkowski (AK), McCain (AZ), Martinez (FL), Isakson (GA), Crapo (ID), Grassley (IA), Brownback (KS), Bond (MO), Gregg (NH), Burr (NC), Voinovich (OH), Coburn (OK), DeMint (SC), Thune (SD), and Bennett (UT). I know that Martinez has already announced that he will not be running for reelection, and Gregg has said that he might not run for reelection.
To be Honest, I don't think that Judge Sotomayor should apologize about her comment in 2001. I believe she simply stated a fact that many seems to ignore. It is not racist for her to say so. It is because that she is female Hispanic judge, and it is part of the reason she will be a good Supreme Court judge, given her strong legal background.
It is because the problem of the collective concious. The problem with minority, especially female is the confusion and suppression of identity and concious. Things had changed so much from the dark ages of systematic suppression, especially in United States. But the collective concious, for the most part, did not change much. In situation when only one viewpoint or voice can be heard, for the most part only the voice of white male will be heard, because most of the people in important positions that can be heard are white males. This results in that the collective concious is basically the conscious of white male.
The day might come that a person's view is not affected by the situation. But for now, it is simply impossible. So, as any body's view will have limitations, it is important to include views from people from different background. This is especially important for Supreme Court justicse. It is the reason why we need nine of them .
A good legal system is judged by its applications. All laws and all languages depend on interpretations. Here, the viewpoint is especially important for interpretating the law. Given that she is otherwise highly qualified, her identity, and the fact that she is embracing her identity, not hiding from it is very good news for the legal system and the society.
