I think you are 100% correct, Schlack.
I have been looking at Judge Sotomayor's judicial record. A big thing has been made of reversals of her decisions (which, in reality, were extremely rare). A comparison is made to Judge (now Justice) Alito's 100% reversal rate. The significance, however, is not over the rate, but the merits. At least half of Judge Sotomayor's "reversals" were based upon a change in the law announced by the superior court. Moreover, more than half should not have been reversed, based upon the merits of the arguments. Alito's record, on the other hand, shows that 1) he was and continues to be an ideologue unconcerned with precedent, and very activist, and 2) he should have been reversed, as it was he, rather than the "mainstream" that was wrong. He remains, in my view, the least qualified member of the current Supreme Court, and should never have been confirmed. Judge Sotomayor, on the other hand, appears to be a pragmatic jurist. I suppose that is the problem. She is not an ideologue, and thus hard to "peg."
