There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America; there is the United States of America. There’s not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America; there is the United States of America.
- Then Illinois state senator Barack Obama, speaking to the 2004 Democratic Convention in 2004.
The wise man is the detached man. …he is a runner stripped for the race; he can weigh the conflicting factors of his problem without always finding himself in one scale or the other.
- Judge Learned Hand, eulogizing the first Hispanic Justice on the Supreme Court, Justice Benjamin Cardozo in 1938.
Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences … our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging. … I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.
- President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor, speaking to a >Berkeley La Raza Law Journal in 2001.
Analyzing Sotomayor’s statement above, National Journal’s Stuart Taylor writes:
Imagine the reaction if someone had unearthed in 2005 a speech in which then-Judge Samuel Alito had asserted, for example: “I would hope that a white male with the richness of his traditional American values would reach a better conclusion than a Latina woman who hasn’t lived that life” — and had proceeded to speak of “inherent physiological or cultural differences.”
…
Any prominent white male would be instantly and properly banished from polite society as a racist and a sexist for making an analogous claim of ethnic and gender superiority or inferiority.
As disturbing as Sotomayor’s extra-judicial comments are, her record from the bench also presents cause for alarm, including:
Equal Opportunity: In Ricci v. Destefano, Sotomayor joined an unsigned opinion rejecting a lawsuit from a group of firefighters who claimed the city of New Haven, Connecticut violated their civil rights by invalidating the results of a test administered to fill 15 captain and lieutenant vacancies. The lead plaintiff, Frank Ricci, battled dyslexia and spent months studying for the test, which he passed, but because no African-American firefighters passed he was denied a promotion. Sotomayor’s curt rejection of Ricci’s claims prompted President Bill Clinton appointed Second Circuit Judge Jose Cabranes to write: “The opinion contains no reference whatsoever to the constitutional claims at the core of this case. This perfunctory disposition rests uneasily with the weighty issues presented by this appeal.”
Second Amendment: In Maloney v. Cuomo, Sotomayor joined an opinion holding that “it is settled law” that the Second Amendment only limits federal, and not state, gun control laws. Even the famously liberal Ninth Circuit reached the opposite conclusion last month in Nordyke v. King.
Property Rights: In Didden v. Village of Port Chester, Sotomayor joined an unsigned opinion affirming Port Chester’s condemnation of land which plaintiff Bart Didden planned to build a pharmacy on. Didden had been approached by a politically connected developer who demanded either $800,000 from Didden or 50% stake in his pharmacy. When Didden did not comply, Port Chester condemned the land the very next day through eminent domain.
These are just some of the serious questions that Sotomayor’s record raises. Her view of judging must be carefully and fully explored by the Senate.
Quick Hits:
- Effectively nationalizing the company, the United States is expected to own 70% of General Motors with most of the rest of the company in the hands of a union trust fund.
- President Obama’s campaign to cut health costs by $2 trillion over the next decade could violate the nation’s antitrust laws if the nation’s doctors, hospitals, insurance companies and drug makers get together and agree on a strategy to hold down prices and reduce the growth of health spending.
- The House Resources Committee is circulating legislation that would raise the royalties companies pay to drill on federal lands from 12.5 to 18.75 percent and shorten lease terms from 10 to five years.
- Global warming concerns have no place in the Pentagon’s upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review.
- A South Korean newspaper reports that American spy satellites have detected activity at a North Korean plant that reprocesses spent nuclear fuel to make weapons-grade plutonium and North Korea threatened a military response to South Korean participation in a U.S.-led program to seize weapons of mass destruction.
Justice Sotomayor seems to forget the basis of the Judicial System is that "Justice is blind". Blind to the sex, racial orientation, background and religion of all those who enter the Courts for Justice sake. Come to think about it, the entire Justice System seems to have forgotten that.
Let me start, I am not comfortable with court matters and legal writ; but, the Latina nominee Justice Sotomayor is a confirmed Roman Catholic of the Spanish heritage so the taking of an “Oath”; albeit, as a young girl is considered very serious. It is true peasants in South and Central America Confirm their children at the time of Baptism; this woman, though, is not of peasant stock so she was taught in US Catholic School the meaning of the Oath before God thoroughly.
Now, as a Justice, what I have heard is she is a dolt, which gives me the impression she will need Roberts and Allito big time. She risks Excommunication if her Abortion rulings are extremely removed from her inherited faith. There’s playing the Spanish card and there is being Spanish. This appointment would put 3 out of 9 Justices Roman Catholic and first reaction from the ObamaBlogs is negative, the George Soros atheists are going to raise a huge (secret) stint. I do not see BabyCake’s fingerprints on this, what I do see is Axelrod’s bootprints in the mud. Expect (Traitor-A) Arlen Spector to go the abortion route and try to sandbag the nomination. If so? A great show!
As Conservatives, this is not our fight! Let us “Keep our powder dry!” and stay out of this one preparing to do battle on ground of our own choosing. If this nomination fails it will be because of Planned Parenthood, NOW, Guttenberg Foundation and the rest of the royal feminist Mafia.
The judge also upheld Bush on abortion. She may be left of center but isn't a leftist. You people need to grow up. You're demonstrating why conservatives are starting to be demonized by the general population — opposition for the sake of opposition. Obama has the right to his own picks — he did win the election — just as we all argued (for the most part successfully) that Bush had the right to his.
I am a lawyer and I think it is fine to delve into her legal rulings and try to extrapolate her judicial philosophy from that process, then to publicize problems we see. Senate Republicans have the same duty as the Democrats: to "advise" and, if in agreement, to "consent." Ad hominem attacks are not warranted, however it has historically been Democrats who have taken that disgraceful road, not Republicans. For my part, I would like to see some serious questions about her view of the scope and meaning of the Tenth Amendment's reserved powers clause, which both sides of the aisle seem to have ignored during the last 50 years. We are concentrating way too much power in Washington and the states have allowed the lure of Washington's money to make a Devil's bargain: Money in exchange for giving up state powers. Latest example: Does anyone care that the credit card "reform" legislation will take over a regulatory function previously covered (if at all) by the states? I hope that some courageous Senator will really probe Sotomayor's views in this area.
They are intent on creating a whole new system of morality, a morality based on moral relativism and tolerance. Traditional morality becomes a thing of the past. Once you accept this idea of tolerance as the guiding principle of the new morality, the antithesis of right and wrong no longer exists and tolerance becomes acceptance. A better term might be atheistic humanisim or secular humanism. This is not the atheism of individuals who are seeking to impress or become a part of a group of intellectual elites, but atheism with a developed ideology and a program for remaking the world. Based on her record and her supercilious rhetoric in her speeches, there is no question that she is unqualified to be a Supreme Court Justice. She lacks the moral clarity to sit on the bench in any court.
To Publius, Washington, DC,
Well spoken.
This is another attempt by obama to short change the Constitution, the law of the land. He is doing this to change the way the court needs to be, interpit the laws not make them. This nomitation clearly shows she will make law instead. When will the American people wake up and see what is happening to this country. He began his rule on 1/20/09, the day he took office and if people do not stop him he will ruin this country with his socialist ideas and ways.
Hey Soothsayer, Sotomayor is not of the "Spanish" heritage, she is hispanic (of Latin America). Please use the correct terminology
Aside from being a good actor who reads and delivers line well, what has Obama got? Nothing! I see him as an "empty suit", who follows his instructions from way back when.
He is anti-American, anti-Constitution, anti-individual rights, anti-capitalism, anti-everything that has made America great!
His latest choice, this time for a Supreme Court Justice, will probably be given the life-time seat. This will be a another major nail to hang the United States on the cross of socialist Marxism!
Do I want him to succeed? HELL NO!!!!
These are just some of the serious questions that Heritage's record raises.
1. "Effectively nationalizing the company, the United States is expected to own 70% of General Motors with most of the rest of the company in the hands of a union trust fund."
IF THIS IS TRUE, WHY WOULD ANY CONSERVATIVE 'THINK TANK' BE AGAINST THE PEOPLE WHO PAY THE TAXES WHICH RESCUED GM, THEN OWNING THE CORPORATIONS, RATHER THAN THE ELITE WHO FIND EVERY WAY TO SCREW THE CONSUMER UNLESS GOVERNMENT REGS ARE INSTITUTED ???
2. "President Obama’s campaign to cut health costs by $2 trillion over the next decade could violate the nation’s antitrust laws if the nation’s doctors, hospitals, insurance companies and drug makers get together and agree on a strategy to hold down prices and reduce the growth of health spending."
IF THE NATION'S DOCTORS, HOSPITALS, INSURANCE COMPANIES AND DRUG MAKERS GET TOGETHER AN AGREE ON A 'STRATEGY' TO HOLD DOWN RICES, AND REDUE THE GROWTH OF HEALTH SPENDING, THEN IT IS THEY WHO ARE CONSCIOUSLY VIOLATING THE NATION'S ANTI-TRUST LAWS, NOT OBAMA. DUH !!!
3. "The House Resources Committee is circulating legislation that would raise the royalties companies pay to drill on federal lands from 12.5 to 18.75 percent and shorten lease terms from 10 to five years."
IT'S CALLED TAXES ON THOSE WHO CAN AFFORD IT BECAUSE THEY ARE AMONG THE FEW WHO HAVE SHOWN CONSISTENT OVER THE TOP PROFITS WHILE THE REST OF US HAVE TO SUFFER THE RECESSION. IT'S ALSO CALLED BEING MORE MINDFUL OF THE EFFECTS THESE COMPANIES HAVE ON THE PUBLIC LANDS THEY LEASE FROM US THE TAX PAYERS. DUH, DUH !!
4. "Global warming concerns have no place in the Pentagon’s upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review."
THE PENTAGON IS ONE OF THE MOST OFFENSIVE USERS OF DANGEROUS CHEMICALS CAUSING RESIDUES TO REMAIN IN TEST AND WAR AREAS FOR GENERATIONS. THESE ARE NOT JUST AFFECTING SOME TRIBE IN THE DARKEST OF AFGHANISTAN, AS 9/11 SHOULD HAVE TAUGHT ALL OF US.
THIS IS NOT THE WORLD WHERE YOU GREW UP. IT IS CHANGING DAILY AND WE HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF IT OR WE AND OUR CHILDREN WILL REAP THE "REWARDS".
I am afraid Obama is changing our country to something we will not recognize in few years.Now another Supreme Court Judge extremely liberal and seemingly recial leanings.Remember the fire fighters case in Connecticut. There will no longer be Constitutional Laws. In the next elections we must carefully use our vote. The only power we have. Not even the questionable Obamas birth certificate issue is enforced.
To Publius,Washington DC,
Where were you when Clarence Thomas was nominated and the socialist hordes of the Democratic Party launched vicious personal attacks on him because he happened to believe in the Conservative ideology. He grew up poor, raised by his grandfather and rose to prominence through his hard work. Socialists of the Democratic Party need not advise the Conservatives. Your rhetoric is vacuous just like your political philosophy.
Sotomayor has held racist view when she spoke those words about Latina woman and white men. Justice is blind. It must not matter who appears in front of you. You are supposed to judge everybody fairly within the framework of law in this country. Regardless of your ideology, if you have no respect for that basic fact then we don't have a nation of laws but a socialist country like Venezuela. Justice depends on how the judge feels! Feeling empathy as a judge is a crock and nothing more than a code word for race, class,and every other category based dispensing of the so called justice. It is injustice.
How about when she spoke at a conference at Duke University and made a statement that the Circuit Court is where policies are made and then mockingly explained it away? It is fundamentally anti-Constitutional. How can you appoint someone with that philosophy to uphold the Constitution? And, we are supposed to sit back and let it all happen.
I have to conclude that she is a racist and carries that into her office by denying the New Haven Firefighters to post their claim. Another Hispanic Judge excoriated her blatant suppression of the facts in the case.
If we want to start reclaiming our country, we have to oppose her nomination just like all the other socialist policies of the federal government initiated by Comrade Obama and his Democrat Congressional socialists. It is becoming a matter of our survival and preventing the DC hordes from enslaving our children and grand children.
By the way, I am not a conservative. I am an American who believes in our Founding principles. If you do not favor it, please find a socialist haven in Europe or more closer to home, Cuba or Venezuela. Just leave us alone with our freedom and personal responsibility.
Lord we do not need this type of supreme court justice what is this presidential puppet of the left up to besides trying to rewrite the constitution to fit the lefts agenda to take over this country. (sorry if this is politcally incorrect)This woman is a racist and will do anything to take her cause out on the white man who has not lived her dream. If the republicans cannot get behind the party and challenge this nomination we are doomed what the hell why don't you cowards go after her instead of worrying about what the moderates and liberals think. If that is the kind of society we live in today it shows americans have just lost their spine to challenge anything that is against our principals.
SOTOMAJOR: 'Empathy', 'Hispanic', 'Female', 'Ivy League', 'Poor Family', ad nauseum. Almost ALL achievers (including OldMan Kennedy–Irish) came up through the winnowing. Some were good, some were bad. The point is: In years past, there wasn't Identity Politics, ie Black is Good/White is Bad/Hispanic is Good/Oriental is…Too Smart/Whatever. It's time to BE AMERICAN! My historical family came from Ireland. They were escaping the Feudalism/Fascism of the British Empire: the enslaving of a people…sound like Black Victimhood? (Hispanic Victimhood/etc?)
The appeal of the USA was…WAS…FREEDOM from Enslavement/Serfdom. Now the ObamaRama Socio-Fascists are ENFORCING Enslavement and Serfdom. Within a few short years (if not sooner), you, your kids, and your grandkids and theirs will be 'working' for the State (Statism/Fascism).
Instead of SpEEEEEEEd ReAAAAAAAding a Bill, how about SLOOOOOWWWWW Reading the CONSTITUTION!!!!!!
FIGHT SOCIO-FASCISM!
TRAP
The Kennedy-Spector alliance with the Code Pink George Soros radical Abortion Feminists want conservatives to "Bork" Sotomayor.
This is a gambet, smart and sinister.
The democrat party has been and remains the party of rascism. Using race and/or gender to fill government jobs is rascism and sexism. Bigots like the democrat party because they can hide safely behind government quotas.
Vote them out of office every election. That is the only way to cleanse our
government. What is the reason to elect career politicians? Voter complacency.
I agree with spirit76.
WE MUST HAVE A COURT THAT LOOKS LIKE AMERICA;
A JUDGE WITH ALL THE PREDJUDICE OF AMERICA;
THAT DISMISSES ALL THE VIRTUES OF AMERICA;
A JUDGE THAT WILL GET EVEN WITH AMERICA, THAT FAILS TO SEE PAST THE COLORS OF AMERICAN PEOPLE;
A JUDGE PAST ANY CRITICAL STUDY TO SEE JUSTICE DONE WITH A MIND AND THUOGHT GROUNDED IN HATE OF AMERICA.
WHATS NOT TO LIKE IF YOU ARE A NEW AGE MARXIST OR A SHUT UP AND TAKE YOUR MEDICINE DEMOCRAT LIKE COLIN POWELL OR TOM RIDGE OR LINDSEY GRAHAM OR NEED I GO ON WITH THIS LITANY OF POLITICAL HORRORS.
Jonathan, I'll go you one better, and this will more than clarify your self-answer of voter complacency……..it's more correctly known as 'Permanent Stupidity', i.e. continuing to do the same thing over and actually expecting different results.
So, what I like to ask people on a regular basis, is 'Are you ready to take back the Land?' And unfortunately most are content to voice a complaint or three.
And for a question such as that, I get to end up on good old underqualified, affirmative-action poster-baby, Janet Napalitano's, (Sotomayor's distant relative) "Right-Wing Conservative Extremist Domestic Terrorist List", which even the '9-11 Tower Topplers' couldn't qualify to get on. No, you have to exercise your right to free speech and thought to get on that list!! Did I mention you also have to stand against anything that the Liberal Lefties stand for? What a world!!
It comes to this, that we either take back the controls of this ship, the USA, and bring her around, or go down below deck and wait for her to run aground!!
One Still Patriotic
The same people that thought Sarah Palin was chosen only because she was a women and good looking are the same that will be touting this as a victory for women and a strong choice.
From the political sense, we have lost our country to a bunch of childish buffoons that think this is some kind of game where they can throw around nominees to the slaughter and play them with their race, gender and simple inability to follow the constitution we fought and die for.
These Ivy league preppies are making a mockery of our justice system, our economy, our work ethic and most of all our constitution like this is some sort of college sorority prank of outing each other.
Both Parties are sacrificing America for their hand on the prize of supreme fascist dictators of policies over the people.
Ed Brown hit the nail on the head with his response before; but it doesn't matter. They don't hear us or see us, they are playing a foolish game of who can take over the country not support it.
Obama is proving that a Harvard education can be weapon……not an assurance of wisdom or constitutional belief.
Dennis A. Social Circle Ga. writes:
This is another attempt by obama to short change the Constitution, the law of the land. He is doing this to change the way the court needs to be, interpit the laws not make them. This nomitation clearly shows she will make law instead. When will the American people wake up and see what is happening to this country. He began his rule on 1/20/09, the day he took office and if people do not stop him he will ruin this country with his socialist ideas and ways.
…………………………………………..
Agree : Old Ga. Dawg
to spirit of 76 new hampshire well written right on the money. only an idiot would support the views of publius dc with out knowing the facts.
Publius, Washington, DC writes:
The judge also upheld Bush on abortion. She may be left of center but isn’t a leftist. You people need to grow up. You’re demonstrating why conservatives are starting to be demonized by the general population — IF CONSERVATIVES ARE BEING DEMONIZED BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC, IT'S BECAUSE THE GENERAL PUBLIC HAVE FALLEN TO BE WEAK. opposition for the sake of opposition. OPPOSED TO RACISM! OPPOSED TO BIAS! OPPOSED TO WEAKENING THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA! Obama has the right to his own picks — he did win the election — just as we all argued (for the most part successfully) that Bush had the right to his.
The people have a right to discuss the true character of anyone taking OUR MONEY TO BE IN PUBLIC OFFICE.
Considering this woman's past judicial decisions, I'd hesitate to have her judge a grade school social studies essay, much less actually adjudicate a legal case! I think her prejudices disqualify her from sitting on ANY bench! (Well, maybe a park bench.)
jjay: Thanx for the current Huff-n-Puff talking points! Mind actually commenting on the article?
Publius: We're judging this miscreant on her ACTS upon the bench. (Y'know, "actions speak louder than words") Maybe YOU should grow up!
Brian: What is the root word of "hiSPANic", Mr Smarty-pants? Dissembling doesn't detract from the fact that this person has shown gross prejudice in her previous decisions, effectively disqualfying her from being seated on any judicial bench. (I guess the "Muslim Messiah" forgot that "justice is (supposedly) blind"!)
Radar, MI GOE, VVA, DAV, Patriot
Why is a liberal democrat who exhibits racial bias called an activist and a conservative republican who exhibits racial bias called a racist?
In a speech given yesterday by President Obama he was extolling the virtues of Judge Sotomayor and that, to paraphrase, it would be great to have someone on the Supreme Court that didn’t grow up in an ivory tower. Of course Clarence Thomas immediately came to mind but let us take a closer look at Justice Thomas as well as some of the other Justices of the United Stated Supreme Court, and what ivory tower beginnings they had:
Clarence Thomas was born in Pin Point, Georgia, a small, impoverished African American community. His family are descendents of African American in the American South. His father left his family when he was two years old. After a house fire left them homeless, Thomas and his younger brother Myers were taken to Savannah, Georgia, where their mother worked as a domestic employee. Thomas' sister Emma stayed behind with relatives in Pin Point.
When Thomas was 7, the family moved in with his maternal grandfather, Myers Anderson, and Anderson's wife, Christine, in Savannah. Anderson had little formal education, but had built a fuel oil business that also sold ice. Thomas calls his grandfather "the greatest man I have ever known." When Thomas was 10, Anderson started taking the family to help at a farm every day from sunrise to sunset. His grandfather believed in hard work and self-reliance; he would counsel Thomas to "never let the sun catch you in bed."
Ruth Joan Bader Ginsberg was born March 15, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, and was nicknamed "Kiki" by her family. She was the second daughter of Nathan and Celia (née Amster) Bader. The family belonged to the East Midwood Jewish Center, where she took her confirmation seriously. At age thirteen, Ruth acted as the "camp rabbi" at a Jewish summer program.
Her mother took an active role in her education, taking her to the library often. Ginsburg attended James Madison High School, whose law program later dedicated a courtroom in her honor. Her older sister died when she was very young. Her mother struggled with cancer throughout Ruth's high school years and died the day before her graduation.
An only child,
Antonin Scalia was born in Trenton, New Jersey; his mother, Kathy Panaro, was born in the United States, while his father, S. Eugene, a professor of Romance languages, had immigrated from Sicily. Five years later, the family moved to the Elmhurst section of Queens, New York, during which time his father worked at Brooklyn College in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
Scalia started his education at Public School 13 in Queens. A practicing member of the Roman Catholic Church High School in Manhattan. He graduated first in his class and summa cum laude with an A.B. in History from Georgetown College in 1957. While at Georgetown, he also studied at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland and went on to study law at harvard Law School, where he was a Notes Editor for the Harvard Law Review. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law in 1960, becoming a Sheldon Fellow of Harvard University the following year. On September 10, 1960, Scalia married Maureen McCarthy, an English major at Radcliffe College. Together they have nine children—
John Paul Stevens was born on April 20, 1920, in Chicago Illinois, to a wealthy family. His paternal grandfather had formed an insurance company and held real estate in Chicago, while his great-uncle owned the Stevens department store. His father, Ernest James Stevens, was a lawyer who later became a hotelier, owning two hotels, the La Salle and the Stevens Hotel. He lost ownership of the hotels during the Great Depression. His mother, Elizabeth Maude Street Stevens, a native of Michigan City, Indiana, was a high school English teacher. Two of his three older brothers also became lawyers.
David Souter was born in Melrose, Massachusetts, September 17, 1939. He is the only child of Joseph Alexander Souter (1904–1976) and Helen Adams Hackett Souter (1907–1995). After moving from Melrose at the age of 11, he spent most of his childhood and adolescence at his family's farm in Weare, New Hampshire. He attended Concord High School in New Hampshire.
He went on to Harvard College, from which he received his A.B. He was selected as a Rhodes Scholar and earned an M.A. from Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1963. He then entered Harvard Law School, graduating in 1966.
Stephen Breyer was born to Irving Gerald Breyer and Anne A. Roberts, a middle-class jewish family in San Francisco, California. Breyer's father was legal counsel for the San Francisco Board of Education. Both Breyer and his younger brother Charles, who is a federal district judge, are Eagle Scouts. In 2007, Breyer was honored with the Distinguished Eagle Svout Award by the Boy Scouts of America.
In 1955, Breyer graduated from Lowell High School. After graduating from Lowell, Breyer went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Stanford University, a Bachelor of Arts from Magdalen College at the University of Oxford as a Marshall Scholar, and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from Harvard Law School.
John Roberts was born in Buffalo, New York in January 27, 1955, the son of John Glover (Jack) Roberts, Sr. (1928-2008) and Rosemary, née Podrasky. All of his maternal great-grandparents were from Czechoslovakia. His father was a plant manager with Bethlehem Steel. When Roberts was in second grade, his family moved to the beachside town of Long Beach, Indiana. He grew up with three sisters: Kathy, Peggy, and Barbara.
Roberts attended Notre Dame Elementary School, a catholic grade school in Long Beach then La Lumiere School, a Catholic boarding school in LaPorte, Indiana and was an excellent student and athlete. He was known for his devotion to his studies. He was captain of his football team (he later described himself as a "slow-footed linebacker"), and was a Regional Champion in wrestling. He participated in choir and drama, co-edited the school newspaper, and served on the athletic council and the Executive Committee of the Student Council.
He attended Harvard College graduating with an A.B. in history summa cum laude in three years. He then attended Harvard Law School, and was the managing editor of the Harvard Law Review. He graduated from law school with his J.D. magna cum laude in 1979.
Samuel Alito’s father, a long-time employee of the New Jersey state legislature, was a first-generation Italian American. During his confirmation hearings, Alito stated that the stories his father told him about being discriminated against for his nationality and Catholic religion and about having to build a comfortable life from humble beginnings had made him more disposed to treat everyone who came before him with respect. These statements were made in response to criticism that, as a Circuit Court judge, Alito had consistently ruled against the poor and minority litigants who came before him.
Anthony Kennedy might be the closest to an 'ivory tower' upbringing, growing up in Sacramento, California as the son of a prominent attorney. As a boy he came into contact with prominent attorneys such as Earl Warren. He served as a page in the California State Senate as a youngster. Kennedy graduated from C. K. McClatchy High School in 1954. He was an undergraduate student at Stanford University from 1954-58, graduating with a B.A. in Political Science, after spending his senior year at the London School of Economics. He earned an LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1961.
So there we have our ‘ivory tower’ Supreme Court Justices. Perhaps President Obama was speaking of the ‘ivory tower’ at Harvard University Law School and that Judge Sotomayor comes from lowly Yale Law School?
jjay: weren’t we talking about Sotomayor?
Thankfully some of us have gotten past the Heritage crap and read the judges words in full context. Is it surprising that staff here provide confusing and somewhat misleading links? The La Raza Law Journal link is a page error but the link before is the link to the La Raza Speech. Please take the time to click on Sonya Sotomayer link prior to the La Raza Link or
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/us/politics/15j…
Five pages of her speech at Berkeley La Raza Law Journal. The truth is out there for all to see what is being talked about today. The agendized balderdash by HF and staff is not intended to be factual, honest or commendable. There can be many points one can raise to discuss about the SC justice nomination and philosophy but not this one in this context. I am assuming that Mr. Carroll has read more than snippets of that speech provided to him by others. I am disappointed in the mishandling of her statement.
Congratulations on your victory in the second world war.
Your certianly fought hard for this didn't you?
How is LaRaza paid for? What does it do? If it is run on tax dollars, what benefit is it for all?