Tuesday, May 26, 2009
President Barack Obama selected U.S. Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court on Tuesday, making her the first Hispanic in history picked to wear the robes of a U.S. Supreme Court justice.
If confirmed, Sotomayor would replace retiring Justice David Souter.
With the selection of Sotomayor, Mr. Obama turned a deaf ear to the gay and lesbian community’s request to select Kathleen Sullivan, one of America’s leading constitutional scholars and the former dean of Stanford Law School to replace Judge Souter. Sullivan has been an active advocate for abortion rights and gay rights.
Sullivan’s nomination would have been the first openly gay nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court in American history.
From the Left 
I did not believe for a second that Obama would demonstrate the “change” he’s so fond of saying he embraces and nominate Sullivan.
Here’s a little nugget I found about Sotomayor:
The Case Against Sotomayor
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=45d56e6f-f497-4b19-9c63-04e10199a085
Her opinions, although competent, are viewed by former prosecutors as not especially clean or tight, and sometimes miss the forest for the trees. It’s customary, for example, for Second Circuit judges to circulate their draft opinions to invite a robust exchange of views. Sotomayor, several former clerks complained, rankled her colleagues by sending long memos that didn’t distinguish between substantive and trivial points, with petty editing suggestions–fixing typos and the like–rather than focusing on the core analytical issues.
This is Obama trying to make in-roads with the Hispanic community.
Don’t forget, his support among Hispanics lagged behind Hillary Clinton in the primary. He already had the gays and the African Americans.
Sotomayor’s choice is like NY Gov. Paterson tagging the NRA darling, Kristin Gillibrand to replace Hillary in the senate. It was a political calculation and ended up costing Paterson the support of the majority of New Yorkers.
I predict Sotomayor will further erode Obama’s support in the gay community.
Puerto Ricans: 1
Gays: 0
This is becoming a trend for the gay community with this president.
Obama will get props because she’s a woman and a hispanic but I want to know how she will rule on the rights of detainees held in GITMO for 7 years without legal representation, and privacy rights eviscerated under FISA I and FISA II and gay rights including the right to marry.
These are the type of cases the SCOTUS will be asked to decide in the coming 2 years.
I’m seeing a lot of mindlessness in the blogosphere already about Sotomayor. Comments like “neat” and “cool” and “rock on, Latina.”
These are fine, I suppose but, does anyone know how she’s ruled on salient cases before her during her time as a Circuit judge? Some details would be appreciated.
I haven’t been able to find much so far. According to MSNBC, Sonia Sotomayor is:
– a diehard Yankees fan
– she issued an injunction that led the eventual settlement of the 1990s-era Major League Baseball strike
– she an incessant smoker
– divorced from Kevin Edward Noonan in 1983
– no children
– left the NY District Attorney’s office a year later and went into private practice
– she’s smart and graduated summa cum laude in 1976 from Princeton
– earned her law degree from Yale in 1979
I wish I had rulings info but none was available.
One thing to look out for is that she is a Catholic. Look for the thumpers to start shouting…anti Catholic if she supports Roe v Wade.
I know everyone is disappointed that Kathleen Sullivan didn’t get the nod. But out the gate I like Sotomayor. She is center/left and I expect her to give the court a better slant towards the LGBT cause.
This is a very decent person whom I think will win you over in time. A bit of sunshine after Scalia.
If Obama had selected a gay or lesbian replacement for Souter, the religious right and the old, white GOP boys in the senate like McConnell and Cornyn would’ve given him fits and we all know Obama is a sissy when it comes to confrontation with the other side of the aisle. Just because Obama is black doesn’t automatically mean he’s a push-back thug. This is a man who eats arugula salad for lunch.
It’s possible that Sotomayor, being a woman and a minority, would be more empathetic to the issues that gay and lesbian Americans face each day. As a woman, despite an allegedly even playing field for everyone, this simply isn’t true. I have lost out on several promotions to men with less education and less experience. This makes me keenly aware of what gay Americans face in their professional lives.
My first thought–Ugh! a Christian Ivy league grad for the bench. Where’s the change?
But I do like the fact he did pick a female, and a hispanic female at that. More than 1/2 this country are females & the SCOTUS is not representing that ratio. But Harriet Meyers was a female & totally unqualified so not just any female will do!
That being said~
• Obama referred to Sotomayor’s childhood in a Bronx housing project and said she has never lost sight of where she began her life. During her life’s journey she has “faced down barriers, overcome the odds,” he said.
>>That makes her not of the silver spoon fed classic Ivy league ilk.
•Obama called Sotomayor “an inspiring woman” with more experience on the bench than any of the current justices had at their nominations.
• If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Sotomayor would become the first Hispanic justice of the Supreme Court.The fact that the Supreme Court has never had a Hispanic justice—although it has had blacks and women serving as justices—will probably have an impact on its decisions, because Sotomayor’s confirmation will result in it becoming the most diverse Supreme Court in American history.
>> Diversity is good- The Supreme Court has been sorely lacking in that regard.
I suspect Obama will have at least one more opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court Justice during his term in office, in which he could consider Kathleen Sullivan.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg is in poor health & would likely choose to step down while there is a Democratic president at the helm.
I doubt queers would be so disapointed by this pick if Obama hadn’t discriminated against queers in Cabinet level appointments.
I agree libhomo. Must add, Sullivan sounds fabulous, but even I have to admit that Obama would be nuts to try to float her name now. The republicans have to be mid-death rattle before that can happen. Right now, they are only at the beginning.
I don’t know why people are reducing this to keeping tally of what type of people are getting positions. This is a much bigger event than that. I think that she will bring much experience and intelligence to the court.
I don’t know why people are reducing this to keeping tally of what type of people are getting positions.
Maybe because you’re a braindead, clueless, heterosexist asshole who has no business posting this crap on a blog run by a gay man?
For starters.
If Obama had picked an incompetent gay judge for the Supreme Court I would say that it was a bad choice. If he had picked a competent gay judge for the Supreme Court I would have applauded him for his decision. I try to look past the gender, sexual orientation, color, or race. There has been little information as to her past decisions beyond what has been in the news. But what I heard about her is that she is intelligent and has plenty of experience. I don’t see how my comment was offensive to any person. Perhaps open discourse is discouraged here.
Science Guy,
Did you read the original post? Do you understand the argument Chris is making?
If so, then your remark about a “tally” makes no sense other than to inflame the blog.
I was specifically referring to some of the commenters, particularly lea-lea and libhomo.