American Missive

“All of the legal defense funds out there, they’re looking for people with Court of Appeals experience. Because it is, Court of Appeals is where policy is made,” she said in a professorial tone. Aware of the gravity of the comment, she offered a casual caveat. “And I know, and I know, that this is on tape, and I should never say that. Because we don’t,” putting her hands up to signify air quotes, “make law, I know.” As the audience laughed, she continued, “Okay, I know. I know. I’m not promoting it, and I’m not advocating it. I’m, you know. Having said that, the Court of Appeals is where, before the Supreme Court makes the final decision, the law is percolating. It’s interpretation, it’s application.”
—Sonia Sotomayor, Duke University, February 2005

LONG BEACH— Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor today to replace the out going Justice Sueter.

At first glimpse it appears Mr. Obama has been successful in picking a potential Justice who is not blind, but is biased. This desire for “empathetic” justice is another classic case of the liberal having their heart in the right place but their head in the wrong place. The intention is well meaning, but the results are always disastrous. There is a reason justice is blind. There is a reason for the rule of law over the rule of feelings.

I hope the conservatives oppose this justice. It is very unlikely Sonia Sotomayor will be blocked from sitting on the Supreme Court, but there are principles to maintain. Any attempt to spin an opposition to Sotomayor as racist should be off the table, but liberals revel in double standards and ad hominem argumentation.

I oppose an “empathetic” judge because it flies in the face of true justice and the rule of law. In addition it opens up the very real possibility of political interference in the rulings of cases. Perhaps Ms. Sotomayors empathy rests most heavily with a particular political party, and not simply some poor mother seeking to save the life of her child. Once a supreme court justice is compromised by partisan politics, bribery or bias to anything other than the rule of law, the credibility of the institution is damaged. That damage may take generations to repair.