Posts Tagged ‘David Souter’
Normally when we at USDemocrazy hear words like BATTLE! FIGHT! ATTACK! bandied about we head for cover and find our Kevlar. This week we heard those terms being shouted in Washington DC. and around the country!
The cause of this aggressive aggravation? President Obama’s appointment to the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor.
Just in case you missed it, a few weeks back Supreme Court Justice David Souter announced his retirement. This created a crucial new opening for Obama to make his first judicial appointment. (Not to fear, we’ll catch you up.)
After a couple of weeks of yelling, asserting, positing, and opining as to who should be the next judge on the highest court in America, Obama announced on Tuesday that Judge Sotomayor is his pick for the bench.
So…who is this justice potential?
Judge SotomayOR (pronounced with an emphasis on the OR — very judicious, no?) is 54, a Yale law graduate, a circuit court judge, and yes, a Latina. SotomayOR was born in Puerto Rico, but moved with her family to the Bronx, New York, where she grew up.
The fact that she’s a Latina has stirred up a lot of talk. She’d be the first Hispanic on the Court, and only the third woman. (We wonder what kind of advice Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg would give the new girl?)
And yes, though the announcement was made merely two days ago, the Republicans are already mounting their attack.
Based on what, you ask? Well… there’s a lot to be said about the Judge, and it seems every news outlet has a few cents to throw into the discussion.
To help you out we’ve found all the valuable stuff on Sotomayor that you’ll want to know. Now you can start an argument of your very own!
The Daily Beast gives you 200 words…
The White House wants to get Sotomayor approved as smoothly as possible… so they’ve compiled a complete story about her to help convince America!
Judgepedia.org has the dirt. (Like, judicial dirt.)
The Washington Post and the New York Times have the stuff on her interesting background.
A quick overview of some of Sotomayor’s opinions on hot issues.
Already a few of Sotomayor’s quotes have sparked controversy, including:
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.
and this (see video):
So, responses? Respectively, here and here.
That first quote even inspired Newt Gingrich to call her a racist! And then the White House responded. (And the back-and-forth begins…)
And how will the right respond? Let’s take a look…
Politico predicts how she’ll get picked on!
But should the Republicans just take it easy on her?
Obama put the GOP in a tricky place, says Mother Jones.
Yet the Wall Street Journal has some questions lined up for the nominee.
And we get to see Orrin Hatch’s take too!
So… are you pro-Sotomayor or against? Let’s hear it!
Ladies and gentlemen! We welcome you to another episode of USDemocrazy’s legal drama show: Full Court Press! [All rise.]
We are aware that thousands of people have been wagering millions of dollars this weekend betting on a horse race, but there is a far more important race going on in Washington… one where the winning currency is not dollars, but POWER!
That contest is the race to see who will be the first Supreme Court justice to FINISH! (their term).
The winner of that derby is none other than Justice David H. Souter.
For those of you who don’t know who the fleet-footed justice is, consult the all-knowing Wikipedia here. The big news as of Friday, May 1st, is:
Justice Souter is bolting the stable (i.e. retiring).
What does that mean you ask? With only nine members presiding on this almightiest of almighty courts, any change in personnel is a BIG deal. Filling a vacant seat on the Supreme Court is a chance for a President to appoint a political ally who may stay in power for decades.
So what exactly is President Obama looking for in a candidate for this important post? There are a couple of theories:
Dan Balz at the Washington Post says its going to be someone youthful, and who will fill the spot Souter played on the “liberal bloc” of the Supreme Court.
The New York Times reminds us of something we often forget. Mr. Obama was a law professor! Sounds like the NYT is looking to see a nominee who is
not a larger-than-life liberal to counter the conservative pyrotechnics of Justice Antonin Scalia, but a careful pragmatist with a limited view of the role of courts.
Check out the LIST of candidates that the good folks at Huffington Post assembled here and the list that ol’ Daily Beast assembled here.
One thing to keep in mind is that the composition of the Court is very important to both politicians and the public. You hear a lot about getting minorities and women on the bench, but a couple of journalists had some lesser-pondered observations about what makes up the Court.
Paul Campos at the Daily Beast says that what’s more rare than a minority on the bench is someone without a Harvard or Yale degree! He uses some pretty strong words like:
Supreme Court nominations have become repositories of the sort of superficial status markers that have come to obsess the American upper class.
Ben Smith at Politico raises another interesting point. Should the President nominate likely candidate Sonia Sotomayor:
most American Hispanics are Catholic or of Catholic origin — to the Supreme Court would diminish the court’s diversity in one way: The court would then be fully two-thirds Catholic.
Whether that actually matters or not we have no clue. So all this conjecture is neat, but what does THE PRESIDENT say he’s looking for? He’s the one picking right? Well, sources show that Mr. Obama is looking for someone who could show “empathy for the poor and disadvantaged” and be attuned to the “daily realities of people’s lives.”
There are plenty of folks who are backing different horses in this contest. You can be sure we here at USDemocrazy will be handicapping it all for you. Who’s your odds-on favorite? And how much are you willing to wager?
