CNN

[...] to see that NOW we see ignorant comments coming from someone who is not black or white. CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive – Sotomayor: Gender, ethnicity should ... I read it a while back. My problem with her will be if she shows herself to be an activist [...]

[...] What has his dander up at the moment is the nomination of Judge Sonya Sotomayor, who said, during a speech at Berkeley in 2001, that her life experiences as an Hispanic woman affect her decisions from the [...]

[...] What has his dander up at the moment is the nomination of Judge Sonya Sotomayor, who said, during a speech at Berkeley in 2001, that her life experiences as an Hispanic woman affect her decisions from the [...]

[...] to see that NOW we see ignorant comments coming from someone who is not black or white. CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive – Sotomayor: Gender, ethnicity should ... [+] Rate this post [...]

[...] "I wonder whether by ignoring our differences as women or men of color we do a disservice both to the law and society," she said at the event, sponsored by the law school. "I further accept that our experiences as women and people of color affect our decisions. The aspiration to impartiality is just that — it's an aspiration because it denies the fact that we are by our experiences making different choices than others." CNN Political Ticker: Sontomayor: Gender, ethnicity should influence judges [...]

It may be hard for decent fair minded Americans to digest, but the left and the universities teach hatred of the white male. Her comments are understood and accepted by current group-think. She will sail through confirmation.
We are no longer an intelligent and discerning country from the left or the right.

I hope that in her comment about ‘reaching a better conclusion than a white male’ she really meant ‘ reaching a better conclusion than a less lived white male.'

And I think her statement about gender and race affecting one's decisions needs some more work. It sounds too much like she's resigned herself to the fact that these factors are inevitable. A wise and introspective person should be able to tamp these personal agendas down to a minimum.

And in the meantime, the Pentagon has acknowledged that 14% of released Gitmo detainees, those very detainees who were deemed the least risky to release amongst all detainees held at Gitmo, returned to the battlefield after their release.

But don't worry, Obama has a plan.

Justices should be appointed based on experience and competence, not race, gender, or ethnicity. The last person to be appointed based on race was Clarence Thomas, to fill the vacancy of Thurgood Marshall. Thomas turned out to be the laziest, most partiasn, most incompetent Justice of the last century. We want competence first, race last!

Anybody that is against this lady being sworn in and anybody against Barack Obama is a RACIST

To Michael Steele,

Good luck with your 'wait and see' attitude.....We'll get back to you in about five years, and ask your thoughts on another of Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor's rulings.......

She said this in 2001. Are we going to paw through every statement she has ever made. No person is the sum total of one remark.
Get real!
I think she sounds like an excellent choice.

Oh..The White Male Party (RNC) has an issue!!!

this is quite scary, if judge making decisions upon someones life, they should be righteous first off. heck , don't give her the job because she's a woman. who needs a judge ruling upon what they feel! if a judge isn't fair and righteous, who needs them!

Luke Brown,

Thank you and I concur!

Also, congratulations Ms. Sotomayor...I know you have worked and studied hard. Stand strong!

I love it when liberals resort to name-calling. It shows their true colors. I point out that Sotomayor's previous comments are racist and sexist, and I am called a cluless, unrealistic bed-wetter. Shheez.... If a white man had said anything similar, wouldn't YOU be saying the same thing??????????

Scary person. This is the opposite of what America should be. Obama and Sotomayor are two peas in a pod. Racists who want governement control over the people.

"Justice [Sandra Day] O'Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases." The only comment I have is we have nine most experienced, wisest people sitting in the USC, and I cannot recall the last time there is a 9-0 decision on any issue; often O'Connor and Ginsburg were on the opposite sides.

Gender and ethnicity have no place in Supreme Court deliberations. Its the constitution stupid!

Sotomayor said, "a judge's gender and ethnicity does, and should, influence his or her decision-making on the bench."
That can't be true! Look at Clarence Thomas!

It's bad that everyone other than Caucasian people can take race into consideration when making decisions. If you're going to argue against racism then it should apply to all people not just Caucasians. People who do and practice otherwise are closet racists who say one thing then do another and expect the same not to be done to them.

I just wish the President had enough courage to appoint a non-religious person to our high court. It's time for us, the non-believers to also have a voice. I'm sick and tired of Santa Claus.

Well, a person's history and experience should and will affect their decision making. Case in point, Claence Thomas's views of AA. The fact that his is admittedly bitter at black folk (now ain't that something) means that his view's against may be marred in self hatred. Now I'm no psychologist, but it makes sense.

The fact that the Constitution is left to the intepretation by these judges screams that there should be a rather diverse group of people residing on the SC.

With all this said, I do wonder if this is a good pick or not.

We've already had a hispanic Supreme Court Justice.

Benjamin Cardozo, nominated by Herbert Hoover way back in 1932 had Portuguese heritage.

Wow, I didn't know that Obama could bend like that. Obama is sure covering his bases isn't he? Picking a racist, puerto rican woman for the supreme court. I didn't know Obama could sink any lower. There goes another nail in the coffin for America and for Americans. Open up the border for more and more illegals to this country. Press 1 for english, press 2 for all the illegal, welfare collecting racist hispanics that want to turn America into part of Mexico. Thank you and buenos tardes!

@Kevin – "thought we were past racism "

Dude, did you even see any of the last election for president? It was ALL about race, and pretty much all that mattered, to both sides.

To one side it worked, to the other, it didn't.

This is exactly why the Republicans need to fight her appointment.

@ BigMisterC says,

"Shouldn't jurists make rulings based on their life experiences? "

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Um... NO... jurists should make rulings based on THE LAW! You liberals literally are worse than Islamic terrorists.

Terrorists want to kill us all. You liberals want to pervert the rule of law and have everyone live in your fairy-tale world of emotional justice and Robinhood economics.

RE: 12:46 et post from "Fair is Fair": "The purpose of the SCOTUS, indeed a key to the checks and balances system, is to adjudicate cases on the basis of Constitutional law. Setting policy has no right being on the SCOTUS."

100% CORRECT.... However SCOTUS has chaged course time and time again as "policy" has seeped into its perceived mission... Ideally, policy has no place in SCOTUS.... History shows otherwise....

CNN...please provide the name of the symposium and the intended topic of discussion and theme thereof. You take every single thing she is quoted as saying right out of context by not providing the simplest of information.

I think a lot of you are taking her statement out of context (as can be expected of Repug trolls). Do you honestly think that she was saying she's smarter than all white males? I don't, and I am one. She was saying that there are many circumstances where her ethnic background make it easier to see the circumstances of the case. God, you people have so much fear in you, it's pathetic.

@dontreadonme,
You didn't give me an answer... So, if a war is fought for the right reasons but an innocent unborn child is killed in the crossfire, that's OK with you? Why is that child's life worth less than a teenager's child in the USA? Oh, and you didn't mention the death penalty at all. How is it OK to kill someone after they are born? There is a small minority of people who practice what they preach and value all life. I am just trying to understand the pro-life, pro-death penalty, pro-war stance. Why so angry?

This statement is troubling "a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." Does that imply that the judge's personal experience should be considered with as much weight as actual evidence in the case when reaching a decision? How do Obama disciples rationalize that position?

Miguel Estrada! The left has no shame.

So much for Martin Luther Kings colorblind society.

Isn't the constitution cloaked in racism & sexism and we've altered some of it due to it being drafted by racist and sexist men?

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

The Democrats are correct in blaming white people, especially men, for what this country is. All they have done is turn 13 little colonies into the greatest nation on Earth, where people are willing to risk their lives in order to come here. We need to put more illegals and lesser qualified minorities in positions of power so we can ruin this country like other countries who have done the same thing.

Congrats......soon to be Judge Sotomayor.

donttreadonme – aren't we doing the same thing in Iraq killing hundreds of thousands of people? Wasn't Saddam at war with those he performed those horrible deeds with while being backed by our government?

Next idiotic statement from the nuts.

Racism and sexism coming from a minority is still wrong.

GOP are always on the wrong side of reality. About the importance of feelings on judgement, let's remember that researches from Damasio (Descartes mistake) show that a human without feelings can't make any decision. Feelings are always present in decision-making. So it's better to have someone who understands it that one of those lunatics who think feelings don't take part in their decisions.

This woman is clearly too biased to render impartial decisions. Judge O'Connor was right, a wise judge would reach the same opinion regardless of race or gender. For Sotomayor to admit her's will factor her decisions is the same as saying "I ignore the law, and go with my gut". Hardly Supreme Court material.

Josh – looks like you're projecting your racism on Obama.

Not only is Soto a latina, she is extremely well qualified. She is also a female, very well educated, has known poverty first hand, has know what it is like to live with a condition such as diabetes for most of her life. Diabetes is an epidemic in our country. The cost of heath care for that condition alone is not affordable for a growing huge segment of our country. The empathy for those people ALONE, might be a qualifier for the position. Don't waste your time on propagating irrelevant GOP talking points, Josh. That's not the reality that most Americans are living with.

a justice SHOULD do EVERYTHING to be IMPARTIAL and NOT let preconcieved biases based on their race and gender.

If that was so, we'd still have segregation

Well, so much for fairness. The looney left is alive and well!

Steph I don't understand how "right to life" people can be pro-death penalty and pro-war (where innocent people including pregnant women and their unborn children are killed in the cross-fire). Someone (possibly proud army navy mom) please explain this to me!
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We are not Pro-war! War is fought to save lives, defend freedom and people are executed to save and protect lives.
Do you see the irony in the fact that you libs are ok with abortions of innocent life but are against the execution of people who have killed, raped and murdered. Sadam was one of the biggest war crimes offenders in history murdering 100,000s of people. Where was the UN and the liberal outcry?

"Second, I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

She will have to explain that statement. Imagine if a white male had stated that his life experience would more often than not allow him to reach a better conclusion than a latina or black female. He would be sunk faster than the Titantic.

GOP talking point emerging: This is sooo scary. Very scary. A latino nominated to the Supreme Court. Next thing you'll know – There will be latinos let loose in OUR American streets. Completely pathetic.

Disturbing, if for no other reason than, according to Sotomayor, Wise Latino women are, apparently, better than white men, if only for their richness of experience. And you'll notice she doesn't drop the "wisdom" title in front of white males. Perhaps we're incapable of such a thing.

And former Justice O'Connor was absolutely right. You can wring your hands all you want, and be as wise of a Latino woman as you like, but your vote falls on one side or the other. For every time David Souter wrestled with a decision and landed on the liberal side, however lightly, his vote held no more weight than Scalia's knee-jerk, conservative decisions.

Perhaps there's more context to Sotomayor's quote. I certainly hope so, because what's here smacks of petty, victim-culture thinking.

@ BigMisterC, who said "And as far as the people saying that the judicial branch doesn't set policy, have you, any of you ever studied American History or taken a Civics class? Do you not realize that the SCOTUS is the THIRD part of the checks and balances system written into the Constitution? That would make setting policy and intrinisic part of their existance."
________________________

Respectfully disagree. The purpose of the SCOTUS, indeed a key to the checks and balances system, is to adjudicate cases on the basis of Constitutional law. Setting policy has no right being on the SCOTUS.

She's fearless like Pelosi.......She's going to bring a much needed change......She may even turn Clarence Thomas back......

Josh- Rochester, MN May 26th, 2009 12:20 pm ET

Obama is a racist. He picked her over others because of her race. He is also a sexist. He picked her only because she is a woman.

Ok, ok… He is likely neither of these, I give you that. I will tell you what he is though: A Liberal populist, afraid of doing anything that might t-off his base. Selecting a Latino female will cover two of his bases. Now if only she was a lesbian.
______________________________________________________

B/c Repugs dont kiss Rush's king every time they say something outof line with him

"Second, I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." -----------

I find this very offensive and this statement alone disqualifies her as an impartial judge.

Qui-Tam Relator May 26th, 2009 12:29 pm ET

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Supreme Court Justices should only be allowed to sit on the high court for as long as a president can be voted into office 8 years and no longer. After 8 years as a Supreme Court Judge your idealisms tend to stagnate and not be plyable to future changes! ********************************
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You need to go back to high school civics class to learn the system of checks and balances. One of those checks in place for the judicial branch is the lifetime appointment – for good reason.

Gender and ethnicity has no basis to be a judge. Your FEELINGS have nothing to do with following the constitution Sotomayor. This country will have a hard struggle recovering from the damage this socialist community organizer has and will do to our nation in the next four years.

Ignorant, mis-informed, hateful comments... appalling response from the right. Shouldn't jurists make rulings based on their life experiences? Can you really expect someone to completely turn off their emotions and not draw from their unique life experiences when making rulings? If you were on trial would you want to be tried by a robot, unwilling to take into consideration your life experiences, your mind-set and your situation when ruling in your case? I know I wouldn't.

And as far as the people saying that the judicial branch doesn't set policy, have you, any of you ever studied American History or taken a Civics class? Do you not realize that the SCOTUS is the THIRD part of the checks and balances system written into the Constitution? That would make setting policy and intrinisic part of their existance.

It would be pointless to have more than one justice if the decisions would be invariably homogeneous. Diversity of opinion is very desirable; some of which should be a product of diversity of background, reflecting our current society. Sotomayor was just being frank, be it a bit naive, considering the predictable responses to this remark.

Is that saying that a 'white man' should also do the same? What a comment from someone being placed into such a position.

Ray May 26th, 2009 12:25 pm ET

What have her decisions been on open borders, illegal immigration, immigration law? BO, ever the friend of big business ,wants to flood the country with illegals to serve his class as nannies and landscapers and to provide cheap labor for his corporate funders. The result will be and has been devastating for the citizen working class.
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You think our president is a friend of big business? Boy have you screwed and twisted that into a lie! You obviously meant to say BUSH, ever the friend of big business, but hey, just mincing words there right? As far as him devastating the working class, are you high?? He's only been in office 4 months! My God you neo-cons are SO SCARED because your bosses are not in control and ruining this country anymore!

Some of the most intelligent minds in this country are sometimes looked over due to gender and ethnicity. As a nation we cannot continue on this path, we need every intelligent mind in order to prosper in this 21st century or we will be left behind.

She appears to be openly racist. What is her stand on illegal immigration? Will she push for rights for everyone here illegally? Too bad Obama is so easily influenced and can't make a decision based on qualifications.

Kevin in Ohio May 26th, 2009 12:06 pm ET

This is very very scary. I thought we were past racism and sexism. But I guess the liberals, including Judge Sotomayor, are still sticking to their racist/sexist guns…..
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Um, Harriet Meyers was VERY VERY scary. You need to remember your former boss's stupidity and how he didn't vet her at all before bringing her before us before you start criticizing our current president's pick. I could go into a whole spiel of scary choices by Bush, including Alito and Scalari (sp) but why state the obvious.. since you are throwing label, you "neo-cons" are always afraid of what you do not understand so you throw accusations and hate because it all you "neo-cons" have left..welcome to irrelevance.

Nice to see it wasnt an Old gray haired Man out of touch Like the Republican party! thanks President obama!

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Supreme Court Justices should only be allowed to sit on the high court for as long as a president can be voted into office 8 years and no longer. After 8 years as a Supreme Court Judge your idealisms tend to stagnate and not be plyable to future changes! ********************************

I do not favor Sotomayor for USC nomination, she makes policy in the bench, she makes her OWN laws as she goes along – that is WRONG. Obama can choose someone better than her, QUALIFIED for the job, gender or race shouldn't be an issue.

Enough of this political correctness, it is destructive.

I am a white male, and we've used the argument that your race or gender shouldn't affect your decision-making very effectively over the years. We have perpetuated the myth that there is some single Constitutional truth in every case when the blinders of gender and race are set aside.

The truth is we live in a society that is very much white and male, and that is because most of the key decisions that affect our lives are made by white males.

Judge Sotomayer is just stating the obvious. If our world was being shaped by the decisions of female women of color, you can bet the white males would be saying exactly the same thing she is saying.

I don't understand how "right to life" people can be pro-death penalty and pro-war (where innocent people including pregnant women and their unborn children are killed in the cross-fire). Someone (possibly proud army navy mom) please explain this to me!

What have her decisions been on open borders, illegal immigration, immigration law? BO, ever the friend of big business ,wants to flood the country with illegals to serve his class as nannies and landscapers and to provide cheap labor for his corporate funders. The result will be and has been devastating for the citizen working class.

In short, she represents the absolute politicizing of the high court. She's not even carrying the pretense of objectivity. Now it's "everyone against everyone"–older latinas versus curmudgeonly white fogeys. It'd be the screenplay for a comedy if the Consitution and the liberty of all Armericans weren't hanging in the balance.

And I thought that Obama's choices for the openings in the past were bad?

Kevin in Ohio – Take a look at the current Supreme Court. It is almost as caucasion as you can get. Sotomayor a racist pick???? Get real.

Weren't these also cornerstones of Hitler's philosophy?

At least the ethnicity part?

here are the repug's talking points that were mistakenly leaked to the media... If you hear them, please recognize that the media is taking their orders straight from the GOP: o Justice Souter's retirement could move the Court to the left and provide a critical fifth vote for:

o Further eroding the rights of the unborn and property owners;

o Imposing a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage;

o Stripping "under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance and completely secularizing the public square;

o Abolishing the death penalty;

o Judicial micromanagement of the government's war powers.

EVERYONE, including judges, views the world through their own eyes- whether it be through gender, race, etc. I am so HAPPY that we have a woman and a Hispanic to counter all the old, conservative men in the Supreme Court. To Republicans, being a conservative means that you are 'impartial' but to be a liberal means that you cannot be which is ridiculous. I love that Ms. Sotomayor will bring a 'human touch' to the Courts.

Excellent job Mr. President. If the Republicans put up an objection to this nominee, this Democrat is ready to fight for you.

Could somebody ask Sen Jeff Sessions ( R) what he meant this morning on fix news(GOP mouth piece) when he said, President Obama by making this supreme court pick has altered the standard by departing from the "American Heritage".

Obama is a racist. He picked her over others because of her race. He is also a sexist. He picked her only because she is a woman.

Ok, ok... He is likely neither of these, I give you that. I will tell you what he is though: A Liberal populist, afraid of doing anything that might t-off his base. Selecting a Latino female will cover two of his bases. Now if only she was a lesbian.

o Justice Souter's retirement could move the Court to the left and provide a critical fifth vote for:

o Further eroding the rights of the unborn and property owners;

o Imposing a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage;

o Stripping "under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance and completely secularizing the public square;

o Abolishing the death penalty;

o Judicial micromanagement of the government's war powers.

Racism and sexism are not unique to liberals Kevin in Ohio. You show your own biased "-ism" when you make such a comment.

Her comment "...BETTER conclusion..." is disturbing as well as her stance on New Haven imho.

Kevin in Ohio,
Your stupidity is showing. Any person is influenced by their experience. The very reason we need diversity on the high court is for that reason.
Why are you Republicans so SCARED all the time? Bed wetter.

Too bad she isn't a judge in the court concerning the laws of physics!

Just think, certain people would be capable of time-travel, others could defy gravity, some could be fire-proof (therefore not prone to sunburn), it would be like X-men or the Fantastic Four!

What a beautiful world it would be indeed!

Murder is murder, stealing is stealing, rape is rape. Any injustice by one person towards another should be treated equally and not scaled in severity based on the the race or gender of the principals.

If a mobster kills you are you more or less dead than if killed by a militia member?

There goes the "one issue" right wingers.Bye,you picked the wrong party to over turn Roe vs Wade.All that will be left are Limbaughs America haters.hahahahahah

Too bad Obama could not stop talking after he put forth the argument for how qualified she was. She is qualified. Period.

What has happened by stressing her color and gender will now turn anyone who disagrees with her into a racist or sexist instead of someone who simply disagrees with her stance.

What happened to him being a unifier instead of a divider?

Way to misconstrue her point. She's obviously reflecting on experiences and their effect on judgement. In no way does she endorse evaluating cases solely on personal point-of-view.

Of course who we are affects our views and the way we approach our work. Anyone who says otherwise is lying!

So, does the Constitution and what it actually says come in third? Or is it even lower?

Another Catholic on the SC...how many constitute a "papal majority"...

@ Kevin in Ohio

And Harriet Myers wasn't? Get a clue!

I think Sotomayor will make a good justice. Having said that, I am still upset with Obama for the way he passed over qualified black women. He didn't even bother to vett any. What's next Obama? Will you send Michelle out to underprivileged schools with predominately black students to keep face in the black communities? As of today, I am giving Obama 3.5 years to redeem himself with me or I will not vote for him again. The entire process was insulting to me and I won't forget it.

Justice is supposed to be blind when it comes to ethnicity and gender. What Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor said in her 2001 speech is an affront to equal protetion under the law, and it is contrary to our Constitution. Every male non hispanic should be concerned as this nominee has announced that she will bend toward gender and ethnic background. This would be a travesty to the highest court in this country. It is not the job of the Supreme Court to make laws; it is their job to enforce those laws already enacted. This is yet another step toward socializm in this country.

Don;t hold your breath about illegal immigrant reform coming anytime soon, And don't look for this jurist to come down against any illegal to enter this country.

What's next? Press #1 for an english speaking judge.

Congratulations Mrs. Sotomayor

Great choice Mr. President

God bless!!!

This is very very scary. I thought we were past racism and sexism. But I guess the liberals, including Judge Sotomayor, are still sticking to their racist/sexist guns.....