Jul 14 2009
Sotomayor Nomination
In nominating Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, Pres. Obama was fulfilling his commitment to choose someone with “empathy”. Of course, empathy can interfere with justice and fairness. Concern grew after the publicizing of a speech she gave in which she remarked that “a wise Latina” woman just might be a better judge than a white man.
As Charles Schumer (D, NY) said of another judge’s nomination, “His beliefs are so well known, so deeply held, that it’s very hard to believe — very hard to believe — that they’re not going to deeply influence the way he comes about saying, ‘I will follow the law.’”
Except that when Schumer was saying it, the “beliefs” in question were religious beliefs. Now that doesn’t seem to matter. Evidentally, we’re supposed to empathize with the beliefs of the candidate.
Willian McGurn has a piece in the Wall Street Journal about The Catholic Double Standard. Read it, if only to get great insights like the explanation of judging without personal prejudice:
What matters is the law, not the personal feelings. When judges follow this path, they take some of the heat out of culture wars. That’s because those who want to change the law — pro-life or pro-choice — have to do it the way our Founders intended: through their elected representatives.
