Blog #22

Sonia Sotomayor is an associate Justice of the Supreme Court and has been serving on the United States Supreme court since August of 2009. She is the third female justice and first Hispanic Justice to serve for the Supreme Court. She was appointed by President Obama and confirmed by the Unites States Senate by a 68-31 vote. Criticism by conservative members of congress soon followed her appointment. Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingerich claimed she was a “racist”. The basis for their comments comes from a speech Sotomayor made in 2001 where she claimed “I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experience, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life”. I find this statement to be brutally honest. She seems to be using her experiences to assist in her judicial law conforming decision. If for instance a case were to come about in regards to Hispanic women; she would be able to provide a greater insight into the issue than that of her white male counterparts. She has lived similar experience to these “Latina Women” and her perspectives would provide a positive insight into judicial rulings in regards to these matter. Sotomayor’s white male opposition should step outside the box and realize that this experience will only do them good.
Sotomayor realizes that her decisions need to be made based on the law. In fact during her hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee she claimed her statement was “a rhetorical flourish that fell flat”. These hearings did judge Sotomayor based on her past statements, race, and gender, which is completely wrong. However, it makes sense in the fact that gender and racial bias exist in nearly every facet of our world. Fortunately Sotomayor stood up, withstood the criticism and now practices law, her passion.