Get ready for Latina Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor.
She will be the first Latina American to serve on the high court.
And she’s Latina.
From the opening paragraphs of articles announcing the selection this morning….
CNN: “Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic and third female U.S. Supreme Court justice if confirmed.”
The AP: “…making her the first Hispanic in history picked to wear the robes of a justice.”
Reuters: “…selecting a woman who would be the court’s first Latino to replace retiring Justice David Souter.”
Identity politics, anyone?
NBC’s First Read nailed it.
[D]on’t ignore the politics surrounding this pick. As we’ve mentioned before, Latino groups have been grumbling somewhat about their representation (or lack thereof) in the Obama administration, as well as the fact that immigration reform doesn’t appear to be on the White House’s front-burner. But this pick buys Obama A LOT of time with Hispanics — a demographic he won last year, 67%-31% — on immigration and other issues. Is it a coincidence that Obama this week heads out West to Nevada and California, two states with large Latino populations?
Sadly, this Latina lacks of chops for the job. After all, how many other nominees to the High Court have had their judgements reversed FOUR TIMES by the Supreme Court for such frightening reasons such as “erroneous interpretation of the tax code” and “failure to apply precedent correctly”?
But that won’t stop her from getting affirmed.
What if I told you she was a racist? From a Sotomayor speech in 2001:
Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences, a possibility I abhor less or discount less than my colleague Judge Cedarbaum, our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging. Justice O’Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases. I am not so sure Justice O’Connor is the author of that line since Professor Resnik attributes that line to Supreme Court Justice Coyle. I am also not so sure that I agree with the statement. First, as Professor Martha Minnow has noted, there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, 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.
Yes, Virginia, there is reverse racism.
Sadly, this won’t stop her either.
After all, she is Latina.
