Do You Think You'd Get a Fair Trial from Sotomayor?

Let's assume you're a non-Latina and are in court before Judge Sotomayor. Do you believe you'll get a fair trial?

Remember that in a speech, she said "a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

In Ricci vs. New Haven, she threw out a firefighter promotion test that was carefully constructed to be race-neutral with its items all testing relevant job skills just because 18 whites and no blacks passed the exam. Even Clinton-appointed Hispanic judge, Jose Cabranes was so disturbed by the decision that he sought to have it reconsidered by the full 2nd Circuit because it might involve "an unconstitutional racial quota or set-aside."

Among the most important qualifications for any judge, and certainly for a Supreme Court judge, is that when anyone, no matter their race, gender, etc., comes before that judge, that person can expect a fair trial. If you're being honest with yourself, if you were a white person, do you feel you could count on getting a fair trial from Judge Sotomayor?

And what does it say about President Obama's claiming to be post-racial when his first Supreme Court nominee is Sotomayor, his attorney general, Eric Holder is a huge reverse discrimination supporter and his education undersecretary for civil rights, Russlyn Ali, so often calls people racist when they dare disagree with her reverse-discrimination advocacy.

Will Sotomayor's Diabetes Affect Her Cognitive Functioning?

According to a Time magazine story, which is consistent with the anecdotal reporting of my clients who have had diabetes for a while, the disease significantly and increasingly affects one's memory and ability to think rigorously.

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has had Type I diabetes for 47 years. The cognitive effects get more serious with age. In addition, she is overweight, which a study finds exacerbates cognitive decline in people with Type I diabetes.

In concert with all the serious concerns I've, in previous posts, raised about Judge Sotomayor's qualifications, can anyone reasonably claim that she is the most qualified person in America to be a Supreme Court justice, among the most intellectually challenging and critical-to-the-nation jobs of all? And a job with lifetime job security?

The Case Against Sotomayor--Part 3

To an audience of Duke University law students, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor said, "I'm not supposed to say this but guess what? We legislate from the bench. Oops, I'm being recorded, I shouldn't say that."

That revealed three liabilities, each of which would be sufficient to derail her nomination:
1. Exceeding the authority of judges: Judges are not supp0osed to legislate from the bench.
2. Dishonesty: Admitting that she what she says in front of a camera is different from what she does in real life. Given she's capable of that, can we trust that when she testifies during her confirmation hearing (the most important on-camera appearance of her life) that she'll be honest?)
3. Terrible judgment: Knowing the camera was on, to lie and then admit to lying. Also, the audience was primarily law students. What sort of example does she set when she essentially tels them they should, as judges, do what they are constitutionally prohibited from doing, but on a camera, lie about it.

Combine those liabiilities with her claiming that Latinas make better decisions than white males, and the opinion of many judges and attorneys that have appeared before her, asserting that Sotomayor is an intellectual lightweight, a bully on the bench and too full of herself, and it is clear she is not the most qualified person to join the U.S. Supreme Court. The only rationale I can fathom for why she was nominated is that she's a Latina and Obama knew that Republicans, desperate to attract Latino voters, therefore won't vote against her. (By the way, how sad that we accept, without criticism, the racist behavior of Latinos who only vote for candidates who support other Latino candidates.)

Sotomayor's Racist Statement

Should we have a Supreme Court justice who, in a speech at the University of California Berkeley, to law students, law professors, lawyers, and fellow judges, asserted that "a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." ?

That, unlike the many non-racist statements that liberals accuse conservatives of making, is indeed racist. If a white male Supreme Court nominee said that white men make better decisions than Latina women, he'd never have been nominated. Neither should Judge Sotomayor.

A New Argument in the Case Against College

This beautifully written New York Times article makes an "I wish I would have said that" point, one that is self-evident once you read it. What's that point? That most skilled labor, such as car mechanic, requires at least as much thinking ability as white-collar work and generally is more rewarding because often, more gets accomplished.

And of course, with today's everyone-to-college fad having created a glut of dumbed-down and career-irrelevant bachelor's degree holders in sociology, art, psychology, etc., such folks are far less likely to make a living than are good auto mechanics, robotics technicians, machinists, etc.

Who is Judge Sonia Sotomayor?

It's easy to be seduced by Sotomayor's rags-to-riches story. But the most trenchant (and alas distressing) reporting on her competence comes from The New Republic. To its credit, despite being a liberal publication, it pulls no punches in, for example, reporting her fellow judges' opinion of her--essentially that she's an intellectual lightweight and a "bully" on the bench who is too full of herself.

It could not have been difficult to find a nominee better than that. Indeed, even if President Obama wanted to appoint a woman who is a hard liberal, no such accusations could have been leveled at such fine jurists as Judge Diane Wood or Solicitor General Elena Kagan.

The nomination of Sotomoyor is emblematic of the problems that come from trying to create a workplace "that looks like America." It's too easy to let merit take a back seat. Here's the link to the article.

Vacations That Help Your Career

Rather than just barbecuing yourself on a beach, you might consider a vacation that could abet your career. Examples:

• At the vacation spot of your choice, tackle that big project you've been procrastinating on or distracted from. Just devote a couple hours each morning to it. You'll get more done because other work pressures aren't pulling at you and because you'll know, "Just two hours and I'll have the rest of the day and night to play."
• Visit locales that have work-related entities. For example, if you're a landscape architect and you'd like to vacation in Tahoe, visit landscape architects there. If your company has a manufacturing plant in China, go there. Distribute a brief report when you return.
• Need to make career connections? Vacation where you're hanging out with wealthy people for a few days. For example, attend a few-day golf or sailing school, go on a high-end cruise; the cheapest berth will do.
  
• If you need to press reset on your ethical compass, consider a volunteer vacation, in which you might, for example, help rural medics in Bolivia, help rebuild the Great Wall, or help deaf children in an East Indian orphanage. A clearinghouse for volunteer vacations is Transitions Abroad.