How do you feel about the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor?

" If she is, who she now says she is, then she will do just fine. However, if she is, what she said she was, then she will be marginalized. I'm betting that she's the same "leftist" that she always was -- should be interesting. "

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Pat Maple wrote on Jul 19, 2009 5:37 PM:

" The SC said...Nope that doesn't work for us...if you want it to work then you have to change it and bring it back. In the mean time...the ruling stands as the law. "

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jeff wrote on Jul 19, 2009 4:28 PM:

" The SC set new precedent. The Appeals Court did their job and followed the law; followed legal precedent as it was set at the time of the decision. "

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Pat Maple wrote on Jul 19, 2009 2:24 PM:

" Jeff: I walked many miles in school board shoes...that gives me only one of a myriad of perspectives. If Thomas were biased in his decisions regarding race he certainly didn't show it in the Ricci case...nor any other case to date. What about Alito? He didn't say that his background would make him a better jurist than a white woman...because if he did...I would pit my grandmother against him any day.

Voting FOR something necessarily causes you to vote AGAINST something else. Does that make the Justices racist?

Sotomayor side-stepped the Ricci case, she was peeking out from under the blindfold of justice. Who's there she asked? A white man he said...I was treated unfairly...sorry nobody's home came the echo.

The SC does not set the law...their decisions either confirm or reject the law thus sending it back to the morons in Congress. Both sides of the aisles BTW. "

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Bob Hussein Loblaw wrote on Jul 19, 2009 12:02 PM:

" The case was overturned by a 5-4 vote (again), not exactly an overwhelming slap down by the supremes. "

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jeff wrote on Jul 19, 2009 11:46 AM:

" As far as running and hiding from a discrimination case, Sotomayor, and her two fellow judges, followed established legal precedent to make thier reaoned, lawful decision. It was the supreme court that created a new precedent for the situation. That is, they made a new law. A bit of judicial activism, but i guess you're okay with that if it agrees with your feelings on the matter. "

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jeff wrote on Jul 19, 2009 11:44 AM:

" Pat Maple: So now you're changing your point after the facts have emerged?

Your contention was that those men never talked about empathy. Quote: 'I've never heard those three men state or write that empathy belonged on the court'. While not using the word specifically (I do not believe Sotomayor used the wor either), they definitely did talk about empathising with people.

Relgious founding or not, Thomas claimed he could make a contribution to the court because of the shoes he had walked in. Without using the word black, that is the intended meaning. "

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jeff wrote on Jul 19, 2009 11:37 AM:

" LodiJoe:
'The Washington Times reported that "[t]hree of the five majority opinions written by Judge Sotomayor for the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and reviewed by the Supreme Court were reversed" and then uncritically quoted Conservative Women for America president Wendy Wright saying that Sotomayor's reversal rate was "high." In fact, contrary to the myth that it is unusual for the Supreme Court to reverse federal appellate court decisions, data compiled by SCOTUSblog since 2004 show that the Supreme Court has reversed more than 67 percent of the federal appeals court cases it considered each year, except 2007, when it reversed federal appeals court cases 61 percent of the time.'

In other words, her overturn rate is average to slightly better than average. "

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LodiJoe wrote on Jul 19, 2009 9:22 AM:

" Most every major decision she has ever made was overturned by another court. And now we want her on the HIGHEST court in America? I hope she gets bounced out on her Latino biased butt. "

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Pat Maple wrote on Jul 19, 2009 9:20 AM:

" Jeff: Thank you for the info. In Thomas' case I do not see the word Black, or Negro or any reference to his race. He seems to be stating a religious belief and that he did and would work hard. As a soldier I walk in each soldier's shoes, as a father I walk in others shoes.

As for Alito...he takes that into account just as he would many other things. He doesn't say that will make him a better justice. Certainly he was talking about all people and "gender"...afterall he is not a woman.

Sotomayor...brought race and gender to the argument...a wise Latina will make better decisions than a white man? That is gender baiting. "

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splinter wrote on Jul 19, 2009 12:09 AM:

" Brian wrote on Jul 18, 2009 8:09 AM:

" Sotomayor will be fair and impartial is an oxymoron. "

That doesn't make sense. "

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jeff wrote on Jul 18, 2009 5:53 PM:

" During Thomas' confirmation hearing, Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) asked, "I'd like to ask you why you want this job?" Thomas replied in part: "I believe, Senator, that I can make a contribution, that I can bring something different to the Court, that I can walk in the shoes of the people who are affected by what the Court does. You know, on my current court I have occasion to look out the window that faces C Street, and there are converted buses that bring in the criminal defendants to our criminal justice system, bus load after bus load. And you look out and you say to yourself, and I say to myself almost every day, 'But for the grace of God there go I.' So you feel that you have the same fate, or could have, as those individuals. So I can walk in their shoes and I could bring something different to the Court. And I think it is a tremendous responsibility and it's a humbling responsibility and it's one that if confirmed, I will carry out to the best of my abilities." "

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jeff wrote on Jul 18, 2009 5:52 PM:

" Alito asserted during his 2006 confirmation hearing: "When I get a case about discrimination, I have to think about people in my own family who suffered discrimination because of their ethnic background or because of religion or because of gender. And I do take that into account." "

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jeff wrote on Jul 18, 2009 5:52 PM:

" Pat Maple, just because you have never heard that trio speaking of empathy does not mean it did not occur. Try these on for size: "

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Gator wrote on Jul 18, 2009 10:48 AM:

" Judge Stephen Reinhardt sat on the 9th Circuit and at the same time his wife
was head of the los Angeles chapter of the ACLU. No bias there… "

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Gator wrote on Jul 18, 2009 10:36 AM:

" Fair and unbiased you say, then again I say nay, go ask Alice when she is
10 feet tall and you know your going to fall and your mind is moving
Slow, go ask Alice I think she’ll know… "

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Bob Hussein Loblaw wrote on Jul 18, 2009 9:31 AM:

" Brian wrote: " Sotomayor will be fair and impartial is an oxymoron. "

Now don't go using those big words unless you know what they mean and can use them correctly. It makes you just look like a moron, well, more of a moron. "

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Gator wrote on Jul 18, 2009 9:09 AM:

" An unbiased Justice on any court, yes I believe that, pardon me while I catch up with Alice and the white Rabbit ! "

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voter wrote on Jul 18, 2009 8:12 AM:

" You're a Limbaughcile, Brian. "

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Brian wrote on Jul 18, 2009 8:09 AM:

" Sotomayor will be fair and impartial is an oxymoron. "

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Brian wrote on Jul 18, 2009 8:07 AM:

" Why do I get the notion that Sotomayor
will know the future all the while she's changing the past? "

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Pat Maple wrote on Jul 18, 2009 6:33 AM:

" Leo: I've never heard those three men state or write that empathy belonged on the court, only that the Constitution should be strictly adhered to. Would you prefer more Ginsbergs and Suters? You are getting one now.

Should we base our laws on feelings? It seems that most of the cases before the courts today are feel good cases...not laws... When a real case of law...discrimination...came before her, she ran and hid...just like she did on abortion. Real confidence builder. "

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Leonard wrote on Jul 17, 2009 7:50 PM:

" I particularly enjoyed his post where he identified with pin point accuracy the moment at which the Dems had lost the 2008 Presidential election.

The man is like some sort of bass ackwards Cassandra. "

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Bob Hussein Loblaw wrote on Jul 17, 2009 7:43 PM:

" Jerry Kimono makes another prediction! What is your prediction record Jerry, 0-10? The one where you predicted a McCain landslide should count for 2 or 3 wrong.... "

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Leonard wrote on Jul 17, 2009 6:57 PM:

" Pat Maple wrote on Jul 16, 2009 5:44 PM:
" Politics...the bastard of the world. Sotomayor will be biased, positioned, partisan and worthless

You mean just like Thomas, Alito, and Scalia? "

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Jerome R. Kinderman wrote on Jul 17, 2009 6:21 PM:

" What, 5-4 on the Supreme Court bothers some, but a 60-40 split in the Senate sits well with the nation? The pendulum is about to begin its swing back toward the center and beyond to the right once more. I suppose when that happens there will be a lot of moaning and groaning by the far left that such a disparate balance simply isn't fair; but for now they're completely satisfied with it.

Having an activist and racist Supreme Court Justice should be an affront to all who seek equal treatment under the law. But since Sotomayor said precisely what they wanted to hear during a few days this week, the things she uttered in the past now make no difference. The important thing now is that she "says" she will be fair and impartial. Yeah, right! "

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Pat Maple wrote on Jul 17, 2009 10:53 AM:

" Bob: You are correct..they are supposed to be above the fray and rule on the law that was written by the morons and signed by and idiot. Thus the wise connotation. Empathy is a feeling...it has no place on a court.

Conn: She is out of her league completely...not answering questions, flip-flopping and making excuses tells me she does not have the fortitude necessary to function as a SC justice.

Dog: Term limits of 15-20 years would be fine with me...however the Constitution would have to be amended and the people would have to have some say in who sits there. "

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Bob Hussein Loblaw wrote on Jul 16, 2009 10:35 PM:

" ooooh, tosh conn, I can't wait to hear you cite all the court decisions you think I am not up on. You are so wise and have so much credibility, please school me.

Being a drunken fool at 8:20pm is pretty pathetic. Since you like to make up stupid names, here's one for you: Sloshed Gonn! HAHAHAHAH. Tool.... "

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tosh conn wrote on Jul 16, 2009 8:20 PM:

" Oh gosh, I have to agree with Pat Maple and disagree with Mr. LowBlob. Mr LowBlob simply does not keep up with the unchanging constitution nor the court decisions ruled upon by the "Supreme" Court. DeSoto Oscar Meier is completely out of her scholastic league. A Pitiful shell but perfect for the cadre of fiends that surround President Osama. "

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dogs4you wrote on Jul 16, 2009 7:37 PM:

" Perhaps the Supreme Court judges should have a time limit on them, they like all in politics and government can and do make mistakes and are not above the law, even though they are the law and have the final say. While Roe v Wade is about a 50/50 split, the high court makes policy for the unborne. "

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Bob Hussein Loblaw wrote on Jul 16, 2009 6:20 PM:

" Pat Maple said, "Sotomayor will be biased, positioned, partisan and worthless."

You just described the other eight as well. Therein lies the problem with the judicial branch. They are supposed to be above the fray. "

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Pat Maple wrote on Jul 16, 2009 5:44 PM:

" Politics...the bastard of the world. Sotomayor will be biased, positioned, partisan and worthless. I have worked for 46 years to make something of my life, helped others along the way and feel that I am a wise person, having learned much from my mother, father and grandmother. Sotomayor has climbed the ladder in a different fashion with help along the way...simply because she is a Latina...the EXACT reason she got THIS nomination. She then bites the hand that fed her(those old white men in robes). Empathy has no place in the courts. Who one chooses to feel sorry for is social not reality. She answered nothing. "

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Bob Hussein Loblaw wrote on Jul 15, 2009 9:08 PM:

" I will agree dogs that all the 5-4 decisions - which are more and more common these days - tells us a couple things: more and more cases are reaching the court as the result of political pressure rather than a search for justice, and the supremes are feeling the pressure to vote the way they are expected to vote, rather than the way the facts of the case dictate. When we as lay persons can correctly predict the way SC decisions will come down and what the vote will be, then politics has won and justice has lost. Sad.... "

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dogs4you wrote on Jul 15, 2009 5:20 PM:

" Yea Bob I know, ment to say 8-1, but then you knew that.

Just like the Kalifornia Supremes with their vote, one vote for some reason just doesn`t get it. So many millions of live`s hang in the balance. Seems it`s the only system we have though.

T&C if Obama grants Amnesty, he`s a shoe-in, in 2012. "

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T & C wrote on Jul 15, 2009 8:26 AM:

" I feel her nomination is just one more example of Obama "Patronizing the Hispanic Vote which by the way is HOW he won the election! I also predict he will grant TOTAL Amnesty to all illegals before the end of his term. It will CINCH his re-election! Its not a love-hate Obama position I am making, just the way it is! "

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Bob Hussein Loblaw wrote on Jul 14, 2009 8:10 PM:

" dogs, if there's ever an 8-2 vote, someone's gonna have some 'splainin to do. "

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dogs4you wrote on Jul 14, 2009 2:25 PM:

" I have never of her untill Obama nominated her for a seat on the Supreme Court. That remark about being smarter that a white guy will haunt her forever. However, if she gets in, she`s in for life, good or bad decision`s, the country will have to live with them. I would also like to see the Court come together, voting 5/4 for decision`s that will affect the country, changing the country by 1 vote when it could go either way is not what I would look for. Maybe a 6-3 or a 8-2 would be more like it. "

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