Conservatives: Sotomayor Got It Wrong

Conservatives pounced on Monday morning's Supreme Court reversal of the Ricci firefighters case as a unanimous indictment of the work of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Sotomayor sat on a three-judge panel that earlier ruled in favor of the city of New Haven in the reverse-discrimination case, which the Court overturned by a 5-4 vote this morning.

In two instances, one by Justice Scalia in his concurrence and another by Justice Ginsberg in her dissent, the Court said that the case before the 2nd Circuit should have been remanded to the district court for more facts to consider, rather than simply decided.

Although the 2nd Circuit opinion was unauthored, conservatives immediately equated criticism of the 2nd Circuit's decision to criticism of Sotomayor and her judicial fitness.

Here is a sampling:

* Sen. Jeff Sessions, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee: "The Supreme Court found that Judge Sotomayor was wrong to allow the city to change its promotion exam after it was given, solely to favor a group because of race...This case will only raise more questions in the minds of the American people concerning Judge Sotomayor's commitment to treat each individual fairly and not as a member of a group."

* Sen. John Cornyn, a senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said: "Today's decision is a victory for evenhanded application of the law. Saying the earlier decision was 'antithetical to the notion of a workplace where individuals are guaranteed equal opportunity regardless of race,' the Supreme Court saw the case for what it is: a 'race-based decision' that violates federal law. And while the Justices were divided on the outcome, all nine Justices were critical of the trial court opinion that Judge Sotomayor endorsed."

* Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch: "It's further proof that Judge Sotomayor should not be confirmed. It shows she did not apply our nation's law in an even-handed way."

*On a conference call with reporters organized by the Federalist Society, University of San Diego School of Law professor Gail Heriot said, "This is a unanimous opinion that the courts below were in error. The (justices) just disagree on what the error was."

*On the same call, Roger Clegg, president and general counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity, said, "Even the four dissenters believe the disposition by the 2nd Circuit was incorrect." When asked if today's ruling was a repudiation of Judge Sotomayor, Clegg said, "Yes. The justices appear to agree unanimously that at a minimum, the 2nd Circuit got it wrong."

* Ubiquitous Twitterer Newt Gingrich tweeted, "The senate will have to review supreme court rejection of judge sotomayor's reasoning in ricci case of discrimination against fire fighters."