America – Meet Sotomayor, Another Great Obama Pick
May 28, 2009
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Posted by Michael S. Langston
Apparently, our new SCOTUS nominee has a belief that her background, being both a woman and a Hispanic gives her the ability to make better judgments than her white male counterparts.
As reported (here – emphasis is theirs):
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.
First, she does have a valid point about judges life experiences being brought into judicial thinking. & I think it’s a myth wroth destroying that justices are more prone to objectivity than any other human beings. After all, in the end, we are humans with similar limitations.
Having said that, this portion of her speech seems to imply she’s a racist and certainly should make people question her decision making ability.
She notes, that while there can never be a universal definition of wise, her background makes her more wise?
This is the convoluted logic that has a large percentage of the country banging their heads when reading any judicial opinions as judges everywhere jump over illogical hurdles in order to rationalize bad decisions. The 9th Circuit is famous for this, but they might start sharing their propensity for illogical gymnastics with a Supreme Court Justice.
& just for the record – Obama’s picks seem a little worthless, two treasury department picks who can’t pay their taxes, but now are trying to run the economy & the IRS. Many picks never went to fruition due to tax and other problems. More than one pick that directly broke a pledge of Obama’s and a new regulation he instituted stating no lobbyists in his administration.
It’s as if we don’t even care enough to pay attention, because it’s much more disconcerting knowing these things than being blissfully ignorant of politics in general…
Categories: Critical Thinking, SCOTUS
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Tags: Critical Thinking, Logical Inconsistency, Nomination Process, Obama Administration, Overconfidence, SCOTUS
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