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Sotomayor Now Seems Inevitable Court Pick

2 years ago

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Senior Correspondent

With her name on a controversial decision pending right now before the Supreme Court, federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor was not the person I expected President Obama to pick as his first Supreme Court nominee.

Just last night at my own house, in what I'm sure was typical Memorial Day barbecue chatter across the land, six of us had a spirited (translation: loud) argument over what the court needed more – a woman or a Hispanic – and whether there was any Hispanic alternative to Sotomayor, given the challenges her confirmation was sure to pose.

The women, of course, said it was critical to name another woman. One man said an inevitable wave of cases related to immigration made it more important to have a Hispanic on the court.
I talked about the pending Supreme Court case, in which white firefighters in New Haven are trying to reinstate a promotion exam that was thrown out after no black firefighters passed. Sotomayer and others on a Court of Appeals panel ruled against them. I figured the case was such a flashpoint that her odds were long.

But after listening to Obama talk about Sotomayor's "inspiring" life story at today's announcement, her selection by a president with a similarly inspiring biography seems inevitable.

Sotomayor's personal journey is as" impressive and meaningful" as her broad legal and judicial experience, Obama said. She grew up in a public housing project in the Bronx, he said, and "she has never forgotten where she began."

Conservative Clarence Thomas was also a minority who rose from poverty and difficult circumstances. But when he was nominated to the Supreme Court, Democrats had the advantage of being in a party firmly allied with black voters. They could oppose Thomas without creating or reinforcing an anti-black image.

By contrast, Republicans are already in a deep political hole with Hispanics. Perceived as anti-immigrant, they received 31% of the Hispanic vote last year, according to a national exit poll, while Obama received 67%. The GOP can't afford to alienate Hispanics any further if it wants to grow back into a majority party.

And at the most basic public relations level, milked by Obama in the details he chose to present today, Republicans are going to find it hard to vote against someone who grew up in a housing project; who was diagnosed with diabetes at age 8 and whose father died when she was 9; whose mother worked two jobs to support her children and bought the only set of encyclopedias in the neighborhood; who earned scholarships to Princeton and Yale, and whose career inspirations were Nancy Drew and Perry Mason.

On the other hand, Sotomayor comes complete with ready-made talking points that conservatives have been wielding ever since Justice David Souter announced early this month that he would retire.

There is the New Haven firefighters case, which white firefighters who passed the promotion exam are contesting as reverse discrimination. There is her statement to Duke students in 2005 that the Court of Appeals is "where policy is made," catnip for conservatives who condemn what they call legislating from the bench.

There is also that hardscrabble background. Sotomayor clearly has in spades what Obama wants in a justice and what makes conservatives antsy. That would be the usually praiseworthy quality of empathy.

Empathy, conservative columnist George Will said Sunday on ABC's This Week, "can be a judicial defect." Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., meanwhile, fretted on Fox News Sunday that a judge with empathy would decide cases "not based upon the law or the merits, but rather upon his or her emotions or feelings."

Both Obama and Sotomayor tried for some pre-emptive strikes today. Obama noted that Sotomayor had been named to the U.S. District Court by a Republican, former president George H.W. Bush, and to her current post on the U.S. Court of Appeals by a Democrat, former president Bill Clinton. He said the Senate had confirmed her twice on bipartisan votes and he hopes it will do so a third time.

Sotomayor said her "wealth of experiences," from prosecuting violent crimes to working with international corporations, has given her understanding of many perspectives. She specifically mentioned those of individuals, businesses and the government.

She also set a philosophical benchmark that sounded like the opposite of judicial activism. The rule of law is the foundation for all our basic rights, Sotomayor said, and the principles established by the Founding Fathers "are as meaningful and relevant in each generation as the generation before."

Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell issued what amounts to a warning on the empathy front, promising to "thoroughly examine her record to ensure she understands that the role of a jurist in our democracy is to apply the law even-handedly, despite their own feelings or personal or political preferences."

It's unclear how much of a sustained fight Sotomayor will trigger. Democrat Al Franken could be seated as early as next month when the Minnesota Supreme Court rules on that state's long-litigated Senate race. That would give Democrats 60 votes, theoretically enough to prevent a filibuster if they all stick together.

It's possible the most important element in the equation is Obama's job approval rating -- steady at 60% or higher since he was inaugurated. With that kind of popularity, if he wants to pick a fight, chances are he'll win it.

Filed Under: Supreme Court, Woman Up

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