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Dec 6th, 2017
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Joined: Jun 2004
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Administrator Bionic Scribe
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Administrator Bionic Scribe
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Some people need to catch up with science. We decide very little with our thinking and almost all with our emotional brain.
Do some reading.
Life is a banquet -- and most poor suckers are starving to death -- Auntie Mame
You are born naked and everything else is drag - RuPaul
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veteran
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veteran
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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. Excellent points, Julia! It is unforunate that, looking at the Supreme Court in the broad history of the USA, good judgment has so often been lacking in their decisions --- not to mention empathy and simple humanity. However, the "selection" of G. W. Bush as President in 2000 was not the worst thing that the Supreme Court has ever done --- that "honor" goes to the Dred Scott decision of 1857, which made the Civil War inevitable. -
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Joined: Sep 2001
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Sep 2001
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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.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Sep 2005
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I seem to get the idea from some comments here and elsewhere that reason and empathy are exclusive. If so, then you have either not read or you have forgotten what I posted earlier in this thread. (emphasis added] 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. I do not think that we are that far apart, Chuck Howard, if by "empathy" you simply mean someone having an understanding of the human condition, as opposed to allowing "empathy" to override the law. It is not a question of empathy and reason being exclusive so much as it is not allowing the subjective to override a pursuit of objectivity. For those gnashing their teeth at the prospect of informing me that objectivity is not fully realizable, save your bandwidth -- perfection is not expected. Perhaps if someone could provide an example of where a Supreme Court decision was based more on empathy than on reason and the law, I could be convinced to reconsider. Yours, Issodhos
"When all has been said that can be said, and all has been done that can be done, there will be poetry";-) -- Issodhos
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Joined: Jun 2004
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Administrator Bionic Scribe
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Administrator Bionic Scribe
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 21,134 |
Life is a banquet -- and most poor suckers are starving to death -- Auntie Mame
You are born naked and everything else is drag - RuPaul
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 21,134
Administrator Bionic Scribe
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Administrator Bionic Scribe
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 21,134 |
Oh, wait, Gore v. Florida or whatever that case was
Life is a banquet -- and most poor suckers are starving to death -- Auntie Mame
You are born naked and everything else is drag - RuPaul
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Joined: Feb 2008
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
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Oh, wait, Gore v. Florida or whatever that case was Bush v. Gore Not to mention: Yasui v. United States, Hirabayashi v. United States, Korematsu v. United States, and Bowers v. Hardwick
"The white men were as thick and numerous and aimless as grasshoppers, moving always in a hurry but never seeming to get to whatever place it was they were going to." Dee Brown
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 5,850
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 5,850 |
And Frederick v. Morse gets an honorable mention simply on the basis that the speech involved wasn't even on school grounds.
"The white men were as thick and numerous and aimless as grasshoppers, moving always in a hurry but never seeming to get to whatever place it was they were going to." Dee Brown
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Posts: 12,581
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Sep 2005
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So, you present this as a case based more on empathy and you think it bolsters the "empathy over reason" methodology? I would think that it would damage your argument, Phil. Yours, Issodhos
"When all has been said that can be said, and all has been done that can be done, there will be poetry";-) -- Issodhos
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 21,134
Administrator Bionic Scribe
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Administrator Bionic Scribe
Joined: Jun 2004
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There was no law in that case, nor in Gore. Entirely based on emotions. Totally.
Life is a banquet -- and most poor suckers are starving to death -- Auntie Mame
You are born naked and everything else is drag - RuPaul
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