Obama picks Sotomayor for Supreme Court, good decision or bad decision?

President Obama has finally made a choice for his pick to replace retiring Justice David Souter. A question on every one’s mind including those that do not follow politics, is Sonia Sotomayor a good choice?

Let me preface by saying that my position on supreme court and the justices that serve there is quite simple. Our country has a piece of document on which this nation was built, this document is called the Constitution and it can be best described as vague. While this nation strives it’s best to abide by what is written within the document, often the language can lead to disputes. When no one can determine whether or not laws violate the constitution the burden falls on the supreme court to determine this vital question. Therefore a justice on the supreme court has one task and one task only as far as I am concerned; interpreting the constitution and ensuring our laws are valid. Under no circumstance should our highest court, create laws, for better or worse we have Congress for that.

Therefore, when I look at a potential nominee for the supreme court I simply ask whether or not this is an individual who is capable of interpreting our constitution and are they equipped with a certain intellect and propensity for legal matters. Secondly, this individual should not bring their personal biases or political subjectivity to cases, as that incorrectly distorts the core task of the supreme court justice. If every individual on the supreme court (or anywhere for that matter) ruled based on his or her own personal values and morals then every case would have a different outcome depending on who happened to preside at the time.

So let us briefly examine Sonia Sotomayor and whether or not she is capable of objectively reaching the conclusion that our highest court demands.

Her intellect, a core ingredient has already been brought into question. Oddly enough, the source bringing into question her intelligence are writers from New Republic, a liberal left leaning website. Mr. Rosen wrote a piece dissecting Sotomayor and suggests based on evidence that Sotomayor is simply not smart enough to be a supreme court justice. I could not have done a better job, so allow me share a blurb.

“But despite the praise from some of her former clerks, and warm words from some of her Second Circuit colleagues, there are also many reservations about Sotomayor. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been talking to a range of people who have worked with her, nearly all of them former law clerks for other judges on the Second Circuit or former federal prosecutors in New York. Most are Democrats and all of them want President Obama to appoint a judicial star of the highest intellectual caliber who has the potential to change the direction of the court. Nearly all of them acknowledged that Sotomayor is a presumptive front-runner, but nearly none of them raved about her. They expressed questions about her temperament, her judicial craftsmanship, and most of all, her ability to provide an intellectual counterweight to the conservative justices, as well as a clear liberal alternative.

The most consistent concern was that Sotomayor, although an able lawyer, was “not that smart and kind of a bully on the bench,” as one former Second Circuit clerk for another judge put it. “She has an inflated opinion of herself, and is domineering during oral arguments, but her questions aren’t penetrating and don’t get to the heart of the issue.” (During one argument, an elderly judicial colleague is said to have leaned over and said, “Will you please stop talking and let them talk?”) …”

Wow, this certainly speaks volumes. Liberals seeking a liberal judge are concerned that Sotomayor simply lacks the raw natural talent and will fail intellectually against the likes of Justice Scalia. Furthermore, she seems opinionated and fails to think outside the box.

Lastly, some conservatives have leveled charges of racism against Sotomayor, a most pertinent charge considering this introduces bias and personal morals and values that simply do not belong in the court room. For starters, she is a member of the group La Raza (“The Race”) that according to conservatives is a racist group and has been accused of encouraging illegal immigration and stirring up racial discontent.

Worse yet, Sotomayor is on record saying the following in a speech given at UC Berkley Law School; This quote you may be already familiar with:

“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.”

What strikes me as crucially important of course is her disagreement with Justice Coyle who made a comment most logical people would agree with, because ultimately why should it matter whether a judge is a man, woman, black, white or Asian? If we are to determine who is best equipped to reach the most correct conclusion then we are looking for the most intelligent, most capable and most talented individuals in the world. Yet, according to Sotomayor one’s ability to decide cases rests on their upbringing and cultural background. This inherently flies in the face of common sense and raises serious questions on Sotomayor’s capability of being an objective judge and more importantly, reaching conclusions that are best for this country.

This kind of philosophy portrayed by Sotomayor may very well explain her ruling in Ricci vs. DeStefano. A case involving firefighters who studied for a test, passed and were refused entry because not enough blacks were admitted. A case that I find repugnant and symbolic of the reverse discrimination issues plaguing this country.

Based on the evidence, I have to wonder whether Obama’s decision was premature or based not on merit, but personal favoritism and political preference. We already have heard Obama’s stance on the Constitution and his frustration over it’s limitation, now we are witnessing a selection that smacks of FDR’s court packing dispositions. While I cannot predict with any certainty whether the Senate will vote to confirm Sonia Sotomayor, I suspect many questions will be raised on her credibility, intentions, previous history and capability.

Personally, I have to say this appears to be the first affirmative action supreme court selection from the first Affirmative Action President.