Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues The Obama Administration Obama picks Sotomayor for high court

From what I have read so far, she seems to be eminently qualified.

Watch for the discussion on the New Haven firefighters decision, which is currently pending before the Supreme Court.

My kinda politics!



No? *sighs* oh well, I'll settle for blood on the Senate floor.

Meanwhile, for most Americans it will not matter which establishment-serving arse gets placed on the SCOTUS bench.;-)
Yours,
Issodhos

Those to whom it will not matter, probably won't bother to type an entry into this thread, hmmm?

Ron, of course Obama could have found a qualified white male. He could probably have found a qualified black lesbian, female Asian, etc. etc.

The point is that he is suggesting a judge who is apparently ("apparently" because I'm not an expert) not just qualified, but well qualified for the job.

If that is the case, the fact that she is not another white male is a plus for me, yes. I don't recall there being a shortage of white males on the Supreme Court bench at present, so I really don't understand your comment. Issodhos suggested two lists that could have been used. But for well over 200 years, judges have been drawn from a list that was absolutely male and white.

A list is a list, isn't it?

Glad we've gotten back on track.

There are 179 Judges in the Federal Court of Appeals alone. There are 94 Federal District Courts, the number of judgeships allotted to each district is set forth in Title 28 of the U.S. Code, Section 133 - all of which had to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In the federal system the President has thousands of choices. Add State benches, and we have tens of thousands of choices - just of Judges. So, there clearly are plenty of potential nominees. The question now is just this: Is Judge Sotomayor qualified to become an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court? It really doesn't matter how many other choices the President might have made.

Have had to take a vacation from my RR vacation for a moment.

The pick is a brilliant political pick, almost to the point where I maybe Obama is looking for the R's to pick a fight so he can claim his Hispanic credentials.

The pick is a very good special interest pick because the judge is both a women and Hispanic, that would be minoritity squared.

This pick may backfire on Obama though. From what I have read so far Sotomayor is very left some of the time and very centrist the rest of the time.

From a purely selfish perspective I like the pick. Not because she is a righty, and not because of any issue oriented reasoning, but because she is so ordinary. Her opinions are just OK, her findings are just OK, her peers are just OK with her. They all like her, but their reaction seems to be "Her on the SC?". She is Obama's Harriet Meyers, more ordinary than extrordinary.

I mean this, I really do, I believe she might have the ability to apply a populist opinion to her rulings. If she does that, she will aquit herself well on the bench.

Back to my RR vacation. Have a great day!

Well, there are lists, and then, there are lists.:-)
Yours,
Issodhos

I don't think anyone was suggesting that there was not a large herd of qualified people to choose from, NW Ponderer.

As to President Obama's choice, and his comments on "empathy" being important in judging, I would suggest that it is a good thing to have at the trial-judge level, perhaps even at the appellate level, but it is most assuredly not what I would want a Supreme Court judge to base the constitutionality of a case on -- or even influence it. If that is Sotomayor's approach, I would consider it a strike against her (a meaningless as my opinion in the matter is).

But, let us not pretend that nominating and approving someone as a Supreme Court judge is, for the most part, about anything other than politics and political agendas. Obama is a pol, and a Chicago pol at that. There is every chance that he picked her with the intention of letting her be thrown under the bus so there would be less opposition to the nominee he might actually prefer (if, indeed, he even has a preferred nominee, in the ideological sense). Should be a good show. Popcorn, anyone?:-)
Yours,
Issodhos

It's almost comical to watch the faux pearl clutching and hand-wringing over the "empathy" criterion for the selection of an associate justice of the SCOTUS. A judge should possess the very human quality of empathy. "Empathy" does not mean "bias."

I wonder if the right-wing went apoplectic when the first President Bush described Clarence Thomas as having "great empathy" in his remarks nominating Mr. Thomas to the Court. Somehow, I doubt it.

(emphasis added)
President George H.W. Bush
July 1, 1991
Link to source