The New Republic: Why Sotomayor Is Such A Good Pick (Chemerinsky)

[struggle4progress]

by Erwin Chemerinsky

... Sotomayor brings to the bench essential diversity. Every justice's rulings are a product of his or her life experiences. As a woman, a Latina, a person who has faced a life-long serious illness (diabetes), and a person who grew up in modest circumstances, Sotomayor brings experiences that are unrepresented or largely absent from the current court. These certainly will influence her rulings and they also may help in the most important task for a Democratic appointee on the current court: persuading Justice Anthony Kennedy, the key swing justice on almost every closely divided issue. Sotomayor's background, as well as her intellect and experience, make her ideally suited for this role.

President Obama repeatedly has said that he wants a justice who will show empathy. This means a justice who will look at law as it affects people's lives and not just as an abstract set of rules. Sotomayor is likely to be this justice. Several decades ago, Justice Thurgood Marshall in a dissenting opinion admonished his colleagues that it is one thing for them to make judgments about the law, but another to make judgments about how poor people live. The court needs people of color and people from disadvantaged backgrounds to offer the chance for empathy that only such experiences can provide.

But most of all, Sotomayor is an excellent choice because she is an outstanding judge. Her opinions are clearly written and invariably well-reasoned. My former students who have clerked for her rave about her as a judge and as a person. She has enormous experience as a lawyer and as a judge, both in the federal district court and the federal court of appeals. The bottom line is that the court will now have its third woman justice in history, its first Latina, and an individual who likely will be an excellent justice for decades to come.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104601636

[MarjorieG]

1. Not the first to mention persuading Kennedy. While we rail here, realities are like the Presidency

and Congress. Numbers aside, it's tricky to get past lobbyists, regional differences, misunderstnding among constituents. Rather than educating constituents, Congress usually just votes wrong. The court is so right and uncaring, yes activist themselves, we need to find the margins where we can.