Re the exact contents of J. Sotomayer's controversial statement:
According to the Wall Street Journal:
" "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," [J. Sotomayer] declared. "I am . . . not so sure that I agree with the statement. First, . . . there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, 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."**
IMO, "slip of the tongue" or not, the statement has been rightly resented by old white guys on the bench everywhere. I think the statement hints at a covert prejudice.
I think the Republicans are going to be going over her record with a view to clobbering her nomination. Even the Democrats aren't showing respect for Obama's campaign promises (for example, they didn't give him the money he needed to close Gitmo, an election biggie.) What are the odds that the Republicans are going to give a hoot what the people who voted for Obama think?
re your last " I'm not one to glamourize either politicians or voters, but they are a more diverse bunch. If diversity's so great, maybe we should leave the big decisions to them."
- Are you feeling depressed about lawyers and law, Pithy? Or, have you forgotten that, leaving the big decisions to politicians is how both Americans and Canadians get those stodgy old appellate judges in the first place? And that, it's how Canada gets all of its judges.
** http://online.wsj.com/article/
SB...7658756731.html
Politicians don't always want to be the ones to make the decisions. That doesn't mean we should indulge them.
For the life of me, Pithy, I can't understand why you have more faith in the decisions of the politicians we have now, than you do in those of the judges we have now.
Also, I'm not sure that 'diversity' is a more significant element in politics than it is in law. There are loads of "diverse lawyers" who can become judges. But when I look at the politicians in Alberta and in the federal parliament, I still see a sea of rich white guys, for the most part.
Hi, Pithy: In connection with our discussion above, as to whether or not judges or politicians are better at making the decisions which politicians are supposed to be making, care to comment on the relevant implications from the recent Federal court ruling on Abousfian Abdelrazik?:
http://www.thestar.com/comment/a.../article/
646647
Regards,
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