Sotomayor is of the People!
Wisconsin Mike
Here is an excellent article, from a fine writer:
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2009/05/31/opinion/editorial/guest.txt
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Brent Smith: Court nominees aren't so predictable
By Brent P. Smith / La Crosse
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Within minutes of President Barack Obama's nomination of federal Judge Sonia
Sotomayor to replace Justice David Souter on the United States Supreme
Court, speculation turned from who would be nominated to how that nominee,
if confirmed, might influence the philosophical makeup of the court.
Potential opponents of her nomination started bandying about terms like
"activist judge" while pro-choice groups began worrying whether the judge
would uphold Roe vs. Wade. But the fact is no one knows how Sotomayor would
lean if appointed a member of the U.S. Supreme Court.
If we've learned anything through the years, it's that predicting how
Supreme Court justices will rule is, well, unpredictable.
Look at President Dwight Eisen-hower's appointment of Justice Earl Warren.
When the conservative Repub-lican president nominated the former Republican
governor to the bench in 1953, no one would ever have thought he would guide
the body into and through what many consider the most liberal era in the
court's history.
Justice Souter himself offers a more recent example. When nominated by
President George H. W. Bush in 1990, most assumed he would be a conservative
vote on the Court. But, in fact, he has turned out to be a solid member of
the liberal bloc.
The reality is that with their lifetime appointments, Supreme Court justices
are not subject to political winds; they are free to be completely
independent of easily defined ideologies and party lines.
Having acknowledged that unpredictability, however, most pundits agree that,
at least in the short-term, Sotomayor likely will not produce any difference
in the voting blocs. The court as it now stands is pretty evenly divided.
Chief Justice John Roberts along with Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence
Thomas and Samuel Alito comprise the conservative bloc; and Justices John
Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer comprise
the liberal bloc - with Justice Anthony Kennedy often providing the swing
vote. With Souter's more liberal tendencies, many expect a Sotomayor
confirmation would be akin to status quo for the court for the short term.
Over the long term, however, Sotomayor's relative youth (she's only 54)
would lend staying power to the liberal bloc in replacing a justice about to
turn 70. She's likely many years away from retirement and therefore can
ensure the strength of the liberal bloc for a longer period of time - that
is if she proves to be a liberal presence, which, of course, we can't
predict.
Also, when considering the long term, serving on the Supreme Court is not
just about hearing cases and ruling on them. It's also about the ongoing
interaction of the justices. It's difficult to estimate what influence
Sotomayor may have on Kennedy. Like any other justice, Sotomayor would bring
a different dynamic to the court. No one can ever truly measure the
interpersonal influence one justice may have over others on the court.
From all we know about Sotomayor at this point, from the way her parents
raised her and the way she raised herself by the bootstraps to the way she's
navigated her legal career, she appears to be someone who would assume an
influential role on the court and one who may very well become a leader on
the court at some point in the future.
Still, there is much about Sotomayor that we don't know - and many things we
will never know unless or until she takes a seat on the bench.
What we do know for certain is that if confirmed, Sotomayor will be the
court's first Latina justice, bringing new diversity to the Court that more
accurately reflects our country's population.
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Important note: discussion comments at the link given above are only for
Western Wisconsin residents, so I cannot permit you to join in on the local
discussion...very sorry.
Here are my comments on the article given above:
Sotomayor is clearly the best choice for the Supreme Court in a decade. Let
the nattering nabobs of negativism sputter on: the people's choice is
Sotomayor!
Sincerely,
Wisconsin Mike