Monday, July 13, 2009

OpEd; Sotomeryer must admit she was WRONG about New Haven Firefighters--the Supreme Court was RIGHT

Judge Sotomeyer, in the hearings starting today, must admit she will comply with the wisdom of the Supreme Court----and follow the rule of law--and that law now specifies that she was WRONG in the New Haven fire fighters case, and that the court must be race NEUTRAL and give all races equal opportunity. It is not about a WISE LATINA being better...it is about being racially blind....and fair. Make a note of it.
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2 comments:

  1. Bill Connors5:00 PM

    If there is no Supreme Court decision directly on point, a court of appeals judge must decide a case based on what the judge can gleen from somewhat related Supreme Court decisions and from decisions of her own court of appeals. Until the Supreme Court has spoken on an issue, a court of appeals judge must follow the precedent established by previous decisions by her own court of appeals, even if the Supreme Court subsequently decides those earlier court of appeals decisions were not correct. Furthermore, it was not clear in advance how the Supreme Court would decide the New Haven fire fighters case, and when it did decide, four of the nine justices said what the New Haven fire department did was legal.

    I'm sure Judge Sotomayor will tell anyone who asks that she will follow the Supreme Court's ruling, regardless of whether she is elevated to the Supreme Court or remains a court of appeals judge, now that the Supreme Court has clarified the law. But back when the law was not clear, there was nothing wrong with how Judge Sotomayor ruled in the New Haven case--she had to make a decision based on the precendent available at that time.

    Bill Connors

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  2. grumps9:28 PM

    And it's good to remember that the Court of Appeals ruling was unanimous and the SCOTUS ruling was split 5-4. It's hard to say from that that the Justice Nominee was out on a limb in the ruling.

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