Musings on the Nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor

I have been very interested in watching the approach of the opponents to the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

Initially, opponents attacked her language in several speeches about how a “wise Latina” would be a better judge because of her experience than a white male. That led to charges that she was a racist and therefore should disavow her earlier comments. Judge Sotomayor responded to the criticism by meeting with the Senators on the Judiciary Committee even after she fell and broke her ankle in LaGuardia Airport.

Now it appears that her opponents are attacking her for being too tough and too hard on lawyers in her questioning. The response to those criticisms has been to reflect that the current Justices on the Supreme Court are no pushovers when it comes to being hard on lawyers who are not prepared in oral argument. Something that has not been specifically stated is that many professional women have also been criticized for being too hard and tough (not feminine enough). It appears that Judge Sotomayor’s supporters do not want to respond to those criticisms by saying that they are the typical attacks on women but rather are comparing her questioning with the current (white male) justices on the court, especially Justice Scalia and Chief Justice Roberts.

What do you think about the criticisms of Judge Sotomayor? What would you like to know about Judge Sotomayor prior to her confirmation?

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