It’s been a while since I’ve written here; however, someone walked up to me in conference yesterday and asked if I write this blog. That has given me some renewed vigor in terms of writing this blog. I also hadn’t known that the only progressive talk radio station in town has changed format – again. So, I think for this post, I’ll take on Barack Obama’s pick to replace Justice David Souter, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, a judge on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second District.
Judge Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1976, and received her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1979. Like her nominator, President Barack Obama, Sotomayor has not only practiced law, but has also taught law at New York University School of Law and at Columbia Law School. Raised primarily by her mother, she is of Pureto Rican descent, having grown up in The Bronx borough of New York City. However, her intellect has been called into question by “leading” Republican politicos, while she has been denounced as a racist by some others. Let’s address first the claim that Sotomayor is a racist.
The claim that Judge Sotomayor is a racist has been made by several high-profile members of the Republican Party, including Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich. This is based on the fact that Sotomayor has indicated in the past that it would be difficult to separate her upbringing from the day-to-day task of ruling on cases which she faces as a jurist. Similar statements have been made by other, more conservative-leaning nominees, to the highest court in the land. For example, Justice Samuel Alito has said pretty much the same thing. My opinion on this is simply that we all grow up in different communities, each of which shape our own backgrounds. It is difficult, if not impossible, to separate one’s shaping from one’s actions in life.
Insofar as Judge Sotomayor’s intellect is concerned, Karl Rove seems to have some questions about the intellect of someone who graduated with highest honors from Princeton, who graduated Yale Law and sat on their Law Review. Makes me wonder what he truly thought of his former boss… who also went to prestigious schools, but who obviously didn’t graduate with similar praise.
Your thoughts, as always, are welcome…
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