The Washington Independent » Sandra Day O’Connor

Sotomayor: That ‘Wise Latina’ Remark Was ‘A Bad Idea’

Daphne Eviatar — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:54:52 +0000

Under intense grilling from Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) this afternoon, Judge Sonia Sotomayor was forced to confront directly her words in various speeches to minority law students over the past two decades in which she said that gender and ethnicity can affect how a judge views a case, and may in some situations affect the outcome.

Sotomayor attempted to align her comment about how a “wise Latina” would in some circumstances reach “a better decision” than a white male judge with Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s earlier statements that “a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases.”“I don’t think that anyone would think we intended to say that we would make wiser decisions,” said Sotomayor today, after Kyl read portions of her 2001 speech at Berkeley back to her. “I intended to talk about the value that life experiences had,” she said. “The words I chose, taking the rhetorical fluourish, was a bad idea. I do understand that there are some who have read this differently, and I understand why they are concerned. But I have repeated, more than once, and if you look at my history on the bench I do not believe that any gender or race group has an advantage in sound judging. And I also believe that every person regardless of their background can be good and wise judges.”

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Leahy Warns Sotomayor Opponents Against Ethnic and Race-Based Attacks

Daphne Eviatar — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:22:19 +0000

In his opening statement, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) noted that Thurgood Marshall, despite the fact that he graduated first in his law school class, was a highly successful U.S. Solicitor General and had a long list of extraordinary achievements, was grilled during his Supreme Court nomination with questions like, “Are you prejudiced against white people?” Leahy also pointed out that the confirmation of Justice Louis Brandeis included questions about the Jewish mind, and that the first Catholic nominee was questioned about whether he’d be dominated by the Pope. Leahy said, “We’re in a different time now,” adding that he hopes “all senators will join together as we did when we considered President Reagan’s nomination to confirm Sandra Day O’Connor as the first woman on the Supreme Court.”

O’Connor was unanimously confirmed.

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Justice O’Connor Was Influenced by ‘the Perspective of a Woman’ Too

Daphne Eviatar — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:46:44 +0000

While Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s being pilloried on the right for a 2001 speech in which she said her race and gender inevitably impact her judgments, it turns out retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said much the same thing, Greg Sargent reports.

In an interview with Ladies Home Journal that Sargent unearthed, O’Connor — who was appointed to the high court by President Reagan in 1981 — said :

“My experience as a legislator gives me a different perspective. Also, I bring to the court the perspective of a woman primarily in a sense that I am female, just as I am white, a college graduate, etc.

“Yes, I will bring the understanding of a woman to the court, but I doubt that that alone will affect my decisions,” she said. “I think the important fact about my appointment is not that I will decide cases as a woman, but that I am a woman who will get to decide cases.” [Emphasis added.]

And after legendary Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall retired, Sargent adds, O’Connor said approvingly that Marshall “imparted not only his legal acumen but also his life experiences” to the bench.

Sargent’s find comes on the heels of Glenn Greenwald’s bombshell about Justice Samuel Alito, who said during his confirmation hearing (quite proudly) that he was influenced by his ethnic and family background:

When I get a case about discrimination, I have to think about people in my own family who suffered discrimination because of their ethnic background or because of religion or because of gender. And I do take that into account.

And then there’s President George H.W. Bush praising Justice Clarence Thomas for his “empathy,” as Media Matters reported and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow picked up last night, and the statements in opinions written by Justice Antonin Scalia that the courts of appeals “make law.”

So is that “strike four” for the GOP’s pot-shots on Sotomayor?

ASU: Obama Undeserving of Honorary Degree

Matthew DeLong — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:23:31 +0000

This is rather shocking, particularly for me, as a graduate of the Arizona public university system. The Huffington Post’s Dawn Teo reports that, despite being granted the honor of having the president of the United States give its commencement address, Arizona State University has decided not to award President Obama an honorary degree, as is the tradition for graduation day speakers.

ASU Media Relations Director Sharon Keeler says, unlike other universities, the processes for selecting commencement speakers and honorary degree recipients are independent. She says that honorary degrees are given “for an achievement of eminence” and that Obama was not considered for an honorary degree because his body of achievements, at this time, does not fit within that criteria.

I don’t think it really needs to be said, as Teo writes, that getting elected president of the United States — and the first African-American president, at that — seems like quite a substantial achievement.

Really, ASU? Is this really your best P.R. move?

After all, as the Phoenix-area’s East Valley Tribune editorialized:

Barry Goldwater received his honorary degree in May 1961, three years before his Republican nomination for president and only eight years into his three decades as a U.S. senator. Sandra Day O’Connor was similarly recognized just three years in her 25 years on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Do you forget that in 2005, you were Playboy’s No. 1 party school in the country? Granted, you’ve dropped to No. 17 in 2008, according to the Princeton Review — but does that mean you are now above giving an honorary degree to the president?

And I don’t know if you remember, but Arizona had a bit of an image problem just two decades ago, for refusing to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday. After that whole kerfuffle, is this the message The Grand Canyon State wishes to send to the rest of the country — that Obama’s election is an achievement unworthy of recognition?

Update: Sam Stein does some digging and finds that Obama might be a better candidate for an honorary degree if he donated $50 million to ASU.

2nd Update: Stein has more. An ASU official suggests the university might give Obama an honorary degree after he leaves office.

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