Save the Life Stories for Oprah

Posted: May 27, 2009, 10:40PM

 

The life story of Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a compelling American story.

She was a daughter of Puerto Rican parents from the South Bronx.  Her father, a manual laborer who never went to high school, died a year after she was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 8.

Her mother, a nurse, raised her.  She went on to Princeton, then Yale Law School, and is now President Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court.

Judge Sotomayor's life story represents the traditions and moral values of America.  With hard work and determination hardship can be overcome regardless of your background.

In fact, in her acceptance speech on Tuesday Judge Sotomayor acknowledged the great opportunities that the United States of America provides.  “America is the place where ordinary people can become extraordinary, do extraordinary things.” she said.

Just a dozen or so years ago she said, “I don’t believe we should bend the Constitution under any circumstance.  It says what it says. We should do honor to it.”

But something happened on her way to One First Street N.E.  Her professional life tells a different story than what inspired her personal life.

While introducing Judge Sotomayor, President Obama repeated his claim that a Supreme Court justice should have “empathy” with particular groups.

Judge Sotomayor was more descriptive in her agreement with the President when she said, “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.”

Speaking at the University of California at Berkeley in 2001 she said that the gender and ethnicity of a judge “may and will make a difference in our judging.”

The popular video that isn’t very popular anymore is still testing the spin masters’ spin if whether or not they can convince the public to not believe their own eyes and ears, rather believe what the spin masters say about Judge Sotomayor's statement that  policy is made from the bench.

More compelling is Judge Sotomayor’s decision in a 2008 case involving the firemen’s exam for promotion.  The results of the exam were thrown out after they showed that those who passed the test were predominantly white, with only a small number of blacks and Hispanics.

When the case reached Judge Sotomayor’s docket at the 2^nd Circuit Court of Appeals, in just one paragraph she ruled for those who threw out the results, issuing a per curiam opinion (adopting the full reasoning of the district court without elaboration) affirming the district court’s ruling.

Fellow 2nd Circuit Court Judge, Jose Cabranes wrote, “The core issue presented by this case – the scope of a municipal employer’s authority to disregard examination results based solely on the race of the successful applicants – is not addressed by any precedent of the Supreme Court or our Circuit.”  He went on to write, “This Court has failed to grapple with the questions of exceptional importance raised in this appeal.”

Where is the “empathy” for the predominantly white males who were cheated out of their promotions after passing the exams?

While Judge Sotomayor preaches the American way that would make our Founders proud, “empathizing” from the bench repeals section 1 of the 14th Amendment that all people have “equal protection of the laws.”

Judge Sotomayor will cruise through the confirmation hearings.  While democrats never concern themselves with the potential political fallout that never happens anyway when they ruthlessly berate minorities like Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (there are plenty others), republicans still think they will lose the Hispanic or black votes they never get anyway if they challenge any minority based strictly on qualifications.

Does that not, therefore, render the Republican Party irrelevant?  In my Give Me My 'A' editorial I write, "If the Republican Party continues to remain silent and make no effort to educate the public on judicial nominees and the unconstitutional move to nationalize health care then it is time for a total overhaul of the party, which is where it appears to be heading in the next election anyway."

The Republican Party’s focus, then, should be on President Obama if not Judge Sotomayor.  This is an opportunity for the Republican Party in their opposition to Judge Sotomayor’s nomination to inform and educate the public on the clear distinction of what President Obama says he believes about the role of the Judiciary and the Constitution vs. his actions.

In his speech Tuesday introducing Judge Sotomayor, President Obama contradicted himself within a few paragraphs in his teleprompter.  He said, “a judge’s job is to interpret, not make law” while praising Judge Sotomayor’s qualifications based on her “inspiring” life experience and demonstrating “empathy” from the bench.

The Republican Party must make the case that Judge Sotomayor is simply an extension of President Obama who he has selected to do his dirty work from the bench.

While Judge Sotomayor has a compelling and inspiring life story that we all admire, at 54 years old she will most likely hold the seat for 20 to 25 years.  Sixty percent of her cases that went to the Supreme Court were overturned.  She will now have a major role on Supreme Court rulings that could negatively impact us long after President Obama leaves office.

When President Reagan was shot early in his Presidency and was being wheeled to surgery he joked with the surgeons before they administered the anesthesia.  He looked up at them and said, “I hope you’re all republicans.”

Did their background and life stories in that operating room at that moment really matter?  Was President Reagan going to decide just before they put him under if those surgeons should conduct the surgery based on either a rags-to-riches or a silver spoon experience, or was it that they were among the best surgeons in the country qualified to operate on the most powerful man in the world?

At that moment in time, those surgeons’ compelling life stories would best be saved for Oprah.

Chuck

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