Right-Wing Ad Repeats Debunked Sotomayor Race Claim
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on May 30th, 2009 4:33 am by HL
Right-Wing Ad Repeats Debunked Sotomayor Race Claim
In a newly released ad, the right-wing Judicial Confirmation Network repeats the debunked claim that Judge Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court places “equal justice…under attack”: The ad quotes from a lengthy speech where Judge Sotomayor warned that “[p]ersonal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see” and expressed her “hope that a wise Latina […]
In a newly released ad, the right-wing Judicial Confirmation Network repeats the debunked claim that Judge Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court places “equal justice…under attack”:
The ad quotes from a lengthy speech where Judge Sotomayor warned that “[p]ersonal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see” and expressed her “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.” The ad cites the quotes as evidence that Sotomayor would not treat everyone who appears before her equally.
Judge Sotomayor conceded today that her now-famous “wise Latina woman” quote was a poor word choice, but it is clear from context that Sotomayor’s speech says the opposite of what the ad claims. Indeed, Sotomayor says in no uncertain terms that judges must ensure that their decisions are never compromised by prejudice:
I am reminded each day that I render decisions that affect people concretely and that I owe them constant and complete vigilance in checking my assumptions, presumptions and perspectives and ensuring that to the extent that my limited abilities and capabilities permit me, that I reevaluate them and change as circumstances and cases before me requires. I can and do aspire to be greater than the sum total of my experiences but I accept my limitations. I willingly accept that we who judge must not deny the differences resulting from experience and heritage but attempt, as the Supreme Court suggests, continuously to judge when those opinions, sympathies and prejudices are appropriate.
Moreoever, Judge Sotomayor’s statements that her own experiences as a Latina impact how she views her role as a judge mirror similar statements by conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who said that “[w]hen 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.”
The racial attacks on Judge Sotomayor have no basis in reality. Perhaps that explains why even conservative elected officials continue to distance themselves from the right-wing special interest groups’ race-driven smear campaign.
Sessions ?uneasy? with Gingrich?s ?rhetoric? against Sotomayor.
On Wednesday, Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich drew attention to himself when he tweeted that Judge Sonia Sotomayor should “withdraw” her nomination for the Supreme Court because she’s a “Latina woman racist.” Since then, some Senate Republicans have sought to distance themselves from Gingrich. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said he disagreed while Sen. […]
On Wednesday, Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich drew attention to himself when he tweeted that Judge Sonia Sotomayor should “withdraw” her nomination for the Supreme Court because she’s a “Latina woman racist.” Since then, some Senate Republicans have sought to distance themselves from Gingrich. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said he disagreed while Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) called it “terrible.” Now, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has told the Washington Post that he is “uneasy” with the rhetoric:
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said today he was “uneasy” over allegations by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and talk-show host Rush Limbaugh that Sotomayor is racist. Sessions, who lost a 1986 bid for a federal judgeship amid concerns over his own racial sensitivity, said Republicans should focus on Sotomayor’s legal record to try to divine what sort of a Supreme Court justice she would make.
“I’m uneasy,” Sessions said in a 30-minute interview in his office in the Russell Senate Office Building. “I don’t think that’s good rhetoric. The question is, has the judge gone too far or not, given the established law of the land?”
Read more on right-wing hate in today’s Progress Report.
