Posted by
Corthell on Thursday, June 11, 2009 5:25:13 PM
Union des républiques socialistes animales
Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor has been quoted as saying, "I would hope 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."
Whether or not that is a racist statement is a viable discussion, but not my point. Instead, let's view this from the other side of the bench. If I'm a plaintiff or defendant in a case, Judge Sotomayor's own reasoning demands that I have a judge of the same race and sex as me. After all, a judge of a different race or sex has not "lived that life" in that they can't truly empathize with me, so I can use her precedent to refuse to stand before such a judge. After all, you can't brand me as racist or sexist if I merely restate the same point made by Judge Sotomayor. Then again, maybe you can. Carrie Prejean was branded a hate monger for restating the same position on marriage held by President Obama.
Welcome to the animal farm, where all of us are equal, but some are more equal than others. Liberty and justice for all, with "all" defined as part of a selected group.