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‘Wise Latina’ still a problem for Sotomayor

As you have no doubt heard by now, much has been made about Supreme Court nominee, Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s 2001 speech during which she said, “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.”

I haven’t thought much of the allegations that Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s wise Latina comment might be evidence that she is racist and therefore, haven’t bothered to write about the issue.

Among the materials Judge Sotomayor delivered to the Senate Judiciary Committee were more speeches in which she said something very similar to her “wise Latina” remark.

We now know that Judge Sotomayor made remarks suggesting race and gender should affect a judge’s decisions on least five separate occasions:

  • A 1994 speech, in which Judge Sotomayor said: “I would hope that a wise woman with the richness of her experience would, more often than not, reach a better conclusion. What is better? I … hope that better will mean a more compassionate and caring conclusion.”
  • A 1999 speech to the Women’s Bar Association of New York State, in which Sotomayor invoked “sister power,” called for the selection of a third woman Supreme Court justice — which she would now be — and used phrasing similar to that in the Berkeley speech. “I would hope that a wise woman with the richness of her experiences would, more often than not, reach a better conclusion.”

So much for President Obama’s claim that Judge Sotomayor simply misspoke.

One might still be skeptical as to whether Judge Sotomayor’s speeches suggest she might be racist. But if you take her speeches and substitute the word “white” for the words “Latino/a,” “Hispanic,” “Puerto Rican” and “people of color” you might have second thoughts. At Sweetness & Light they made those substitutions to Judge Sotomayor’s 2001 “wise Latina” speech and the result is devastating.

Here are the first four pargraphs:

I intend tonight to touch upon the themes that this conference will be discussing this weekend and to talk to you about my WHITE identity, where it came from, and the influence I perceive it has on my presence on the bench.

Who am I? I am a “Newyork-Caucasian.” For those of you on the West Coast who do not know what that term means: I am a born and bred New Yorker of WHITE-born parents who came to the states during World War II…

The story of that success is what made me and what makes me the WHITE person that I am. The WHITE side of my identity was forged and closely nurtured by my family through our shared experiences and traditions…

My family showed me by their example how wonderful and vibrant life is and how wonderful and magical it is to have a WHITE soul. They taught me to love being a WHITE person and to love America and value its lesson that great things could be achieved if one works hard for it. But achieving success here is no easy accomplishment for WHITES, and although that struggle did not and does not create a WHITE identity, it does inspire how I live my life…

You can read the rest here, but I think you get the idea.

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COMMENTS

  • http://www.suvstrategery.blogspot.com SoFiMil

    The below is not semantics and not flippant.

    If Sonia Sotomayor believes she would reach a ?better decision? than a white male more often than not (>51%), what logically follows is that she would *not* reach a better decision up to 49% of the time.

    Now, I recognize her original statement doesn?t necessarily mean she?d reach a ?worse? decision than a white male up to 49% of the time. Possibly she?d reach the same decision (for better or worse) up to 49% of the time. But if she?s admitting that she would reach a “worse” decision than a white male even 1% of the time, this is cause for concern.

    Since she felt free to project into the future and comment on the aptitude of her white male colleagues she hasn?t met, she should be willing to state how often she?d make a worse decision than these anonymous white males. Or, if it makes her feel any better, we could phrase the question this way:

    How often would a white male make a better decision than you? In these instances, why would they make a better decision?

    Here are some additional legitimate questions that I hope are asked in her confirmation hearings:

    -Please name instances in your judicial career where white males have made a better decision than you.

    -Do you know ahead of time whether you?ll reach a worse decision? If so, why go forward and issue the ruling if you know it will be a ?worse? decision? (Implied in your statement is the fact that a ?better decision? is the ?correct? decision.)

    -If you don?t know until after issuing your decision whether it?s the ?correct? decision, again, why issue the decision in the first place? (Wait and study the issue some more, since at that time you?d be unsure whether it?s the correct decision.)

    -How often would you reach a ?better decision? than a white female? A black female? A gay male?

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    They CANNOT explain away each time and incident as something “innocent” and the speeches are not just the only pieces….

    It is clear that any time that she has been REVERSED/OVER-TURNED is simply because it is OLD WHITE JUDGES not recognizing her superior intellect and that it is THEY that are wrong and not her. That is what ObamaBinBiiden clearly means by “serving some justice” by putting her on the bench…. She will straighten everything out and set the “proper new” Empathetic/ReDistributive Justice they have been getting WRONG all these years.

    There is absolutely, positively, without question, no way around that she is TOO STUPID to understand how she is a RACIST, SEXIST, CLASS-IST, etc…. which is how she can, with a straight face, deny she is any of those things.

    SCOTUS Empathy – SCOTUS Empathy
    +2001 Redistributive Justice video Obama’s 2001 Redistributive Justice video
    +Identity Politics – Identity Politics
    +Hispanic SCOTUS nominee – first Hispanic on SCOTUS?
    +SoSo NOT the first (Benjamin Cardozo) – Yahoo: Is Sotomayor the First (or Second) Hispanic Pick for the Supreme Court? A:second (First was a Republican appointment)

  • Husker

    on her Supreme Court judicial nominee questionnaire.

    According to CNSNews, Judge Sotomayor failed to disclose a Senate memo arguing the death penalty as being “racist”.

    JCN Counsel Wendy Long sent a letter Friday to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and members of the committee arguing that Sotomayor had not properly complied with this requirement because she had not submitted the 1981 memo on capital punishment.

    ?It is . . . clear that (Sotomayor) has omitted controversial material from her past in which she asserts that ‘[c]apital punishment is associated with evident racism in our society’ and advocated public opposition to restoring the death penalty in New York state,? Long wrote to the committee.

    As more and more details are becoming known about Judge Sotomayor, would it be presumptuous of me to say that everything to her is seen through the prism of race more than past experiences?

    • Husker

      To further bolster the point, she is not bashful to throw down a race card when needed.

      Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor once told a group of minority lawyers that she believed a delay in her confirmation as a federal appeals judge a decade ago was driven partly by Republican lawmakers? ethnic stereotypes of her, suggesting that the tensions surrounding her current nomination are hardly new to the New York jurist.

      ?I was dealt with on the basis of stereotypes . . . and it was painful . . . and not based on my record,? she told the lawyers in New York in 1998. ?I got a label because I was Hispanic and a woman and [therefore] I had to be liberal.?

      She better hope she has race card pocket aces, because some of those very same lawmakers will be deciding her fate here.

  • DavidSage

    I have no doubt she’ll be confirmed, but Republicans should drag her over the coals for these kinds of statements. Reagan Democrats will especially be disturbed at this pick if the Republicans can effectively expose Sotomayor for what she truly is. They should also make it clear to the American people that they oppose affirmative action and racial quotas.

    Three-fourths or so of voters will be angry at these kinds of statements from Sotomayor, and it will be a poor reflection on Obama. Obama was able to win because he was perceived as being post racial and not playing the Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton-type of aggrieved minority. If he is seen as that type of figure, Americans will abandon him in droves.

    Sotomayor will end up being a politically unpopular choice for the Supreme Court, which is ironic because the real reason she was picked was purely political. This pick blew up in Obama’s face. Republicans should not be afraid to press these type of issues when we’re given an opening like this.

    • mom2oneson

      nt

      • Mike gamecock DeVine

        Hatch approach.

        http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law–Politics-Examiner~y2009m5d12-Sears-for-Souter-could-derail-DeVine-Laws-unHatch-Supreme-Court-strategy

        • mom2oneson

          When I thought we called for him because he would do a better job with the SC pick than the other person in line for the position.

          • Mike gamecock DeVine

            Mom, the hearings and the vote await. Sessions voted against her for appeals court judge. Sessions is for basing votes on judicial philosophy and not whether they have a criminal record or not , since “elections have consequences, Hatch code for give the president what he wants. Under Hatch, the GOP gave over 80% of its votes for both Clinton nominees.

            Perspective dear. Sessions has a high profile role that requires him to lead an objective, fair hearing and as to defending, her this relates to the context given that she has yet to have her day in court as well as the personal chivalrous defense vs her views on how she would do her job.

            On the latter he has sent all the right signals.

            patience

            A hearing is coming. I know Sessions, and the bottom line is that he will focus on what matters and lead a very large vote against her, which is the main thing that the GOP needs to have happen to win over Americans on the issue and expose the dems.

            Soto’s racist comments are toxic all be themselves. Every time they are repeated, even liberal whites cringe.

            be cool

            Its early in the game

            A game I have lived thru in detail since the Bork nomination.

            trust me
            and trust Jeff S from bama

          • mom2oneson

            I liked your pick in that article too she looks warm and feminine.

          • Mike gamecock DeVine

            and I think they are both right

            see my archives on this matter

            http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law–Politics-Examiner~topic207399-devine-law?selstate=allcat#breadcrumb

            and esp this one also at redstate

            http://www.redstate.com/gamecock/2009/06/01/an-exercise/

            and here

            Rush is justified in calling her a racist, so blatent is her statements and associations and on Ricci but I think those that would rather not resort to labeling HER “a” racist but rather prefer to simply say that the statements are racist are also ok.

            Sessions has not defended the statements and he has not denounced Rush.

            Cornyn went on NPR and did denounce Rush.

            Sessions need not and should not engage in as harsh rhetoric given his role, but he has raised flags on many issues about her and his questioning will be superb.

            I assume you refer to Judge Sears’ photo?

            I know her and she would have been a good pick, esp for a dem. She was on Obama’s list, but only as a token conservative.

          • mom2oneson

            an aside from not knowing about her rulings wow, what a wonderful strong voice for children. This is the second family court judge I’ve heard like that, who has seen the problems in juv and family courts and the casualties of children’s lives from broken families and is not afraid to call the parents and society out on it. She was very common sense no dramatic generalizations. It is wonderful and refreshing to see people use their influence and voice and experience to advocate for children especially since most involved in these issues do nothing but harm.
            This remindeds of Nancy Schaefer, another woman from GA that has been a wonderful needed voice for different even more vulnerable group – children within the state’s custody. I read about legislation she did and it’s just amazing how she hit on such needed things. I wish my grammar was better I would write Mrs Schaefer a letter thanking her for the work she did.

          • Mike gamecock DeVine
  • ronnyraygun

    nt

    • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

      As far as I know she hasn’t taken the step toward terrorism like Democrat Senate President pro tempore Robert C. Byrd

      • molybdanthan
      • olsmithie
        • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

          The former majority leader who quit his plum committee post in protest because a dark-skinned man was elected President.

          • itrytobenice

            I hadn’t heard about that.

          • molybdanthan

            That O went to Reid and had him demote Byrd for being a Klan leader. But this makes more sense. That old dog, he don’t like the new tricks they trying to teach him.

          • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

            The timing could send no other message for him to announce it right after the election and have it take effect so close to the inauguration.

          • molybdanthan

            What if anything happens to old threads like that one? Is there a way to categorize them, to build a vast, comprehensive, and growing compendium of conservative knowledge?

            Maybe something to use in 2010 and 12.

          • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

            Getting the wiki up and integrated with WPMU depends on my copious free time though, heh.

          • molybdanthan

            And remember, many hands makes light work. So if you need a hand, let the rest of us know.

          • itrytobenice

            and forgot about it. I knew I was getting too old to remember things, but this is ridiculous!!