If Supreme Court cases were simply a matter of applying/not applying the law, a good law student could go straight from the bar exam to a seat on the Court and little would be lost. It is judgment, as well as (if not more than) knowledge of the law, that makes a good judge, and - speaking only for myself here - in my opinion reason and empathy are both important factors in good judgment.
Well put. If the application of law to a given set of operative facts were as formulaic as some seem to think that it is, we would not have 5-4 decisions from the Supreme Court. Instead, they would all be 9-0. There would be no dissenting opinions. Most of the criticism of Judge Sotomayor stems from gross ignorance of how the appellate courts work. In most cases, the ignorance is not willful and, therefore, understandable.
I will again respond to Isshodos' post which excerpts a number of paragraphs from a speech given by Judge Sotomayor. She has a long record as a judge. She has written and joined in (or dissented from) many opinions. If you want to know how she will "judge", the answer can be found in the opinions she has written. I've posted links to one of the better web sites that has endeavored to digest those opinions on various topics. I'm sure there are others.
