Judge Sonia Sotomayor

“A wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life”.

My opinion:

What if she were African-American and had said:

“A wise Afro-American woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life”?

Sotomayor’s words are a real life experience that came from her heart as a Latina woman and I am sure that at one point in her life and her parents’ life suffered discrimination as did the African-Americans for over two hundred years. Both Latina and Afro-American women have been discriminated against in the U.S. and they would both be correct in asserting their feelings of certain anger in this respect. That a judge should say this is a matter of concern that she will have to respond to in a way that is convincing that she would not, as a Supreme Court Justice act out on her past life experience even if she is correct in her comments. It seems like some prejudiced politicians are trying to prejudge Sotomayor before giving her a chance to explain her comments. I call this action “21st Century Subliminal Racism” practiced by some politicians who belong to a political party that shares their views. This is how many U.S. politicians cover their feelings of racism. Being a good judge has to do with applying justice in a fair way to all, be it white, Afro-American, Latino, Arab, no matter their cultural background.

Sotomayor is an intelligent woman and I am sure that she will clear all doubts regarding her past comments. I favor her nomination because I believe that true justice will be done in her case and that prejudice based on ethnicity be eliminated forever from the U.S.A.

When I moved to the U.S. from Puerto Rico in 1949, my family suffered discrimination for many years and to cover it up I just worked as hard as I could and got a good education, worked hard and made many friends there. My enemies became my best friends and that is a fact. My mother taught me, not to ever hate anyone, and I never did. And that is the most precious gift she gave me in my life and I thank her for that.

God Bless America!

Ricardo Colón-Avilés
Puerto Rico

The problem is that some have interpreted her now famous quote as meaning "I will reinvent the law when it contradicts something I believe to be morally wrong given my own personal experiences as a Latino woman".

When you are given an opportunity to sit at the supreme court every single thing you have done in the past will be scrutinized by media and by politicians to ensure that the person sitting on the bench is best suited for the job. This isn't a new concept. People aren't just critiquing her quote just because they don't like Latinos. They are critiquing her quote because the Supreme Court is a position for life and they are trying to make sure she is the type of nominee they want on the court for life. If a white man had said a similar quote, you would see much of the same reaction that you are seeing now, only it would possibly disqualify him as a candidate.

I'm just tired of hearing about the quote, because according to her RECORD I don't think she would be a good nominee. I don't think she has enough experience. 60 percent of her rulings have been overturned by the supreme court!!! I realize this means 3 out of 5 of her cases heard by the Supreme Court have been overturned and if you apply the same numbers to the overall number of cases she has the majority opinion on... the number drops to 2% rate reversal drop. Yet, I don't believe she has enough experience.

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Something to think about:

In the case of [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Political Forum Link. in 2007, Sotomayor ruled the Environmental Protection Agency can't weigh costs and benefits in determining the "best technology" for protecting fish that are threatened by power plants because Congress has already decided that marginal costs of extra environmental protections are worth it. (Supreme Court Overturned this)

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