Sotomayor: "Wise Latina" Was A Flourish That "Fell Flat"

During day 2 of her Supreme Court confirmation hearings, federal judge Sonia Sotomayor discussed her much-talked about 2001 remarks where she said, “I would hope 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.” Today, Politico reports that Sotomayor "publicly backed off the remarks... During the first day of direct exchanges between senators and the nominee at her confirmation hearings, Sotomayor said her statements were only intended to inspire women and Latinos pursuing careers in the law and were not meant to suggest they would make better judges than others." Sotomayor added that they were a "rhetorical flourish that fell flat... It left an impression that life experience commanded a result in a case but that’s clearly not what I do as a judge,” and said it was an unsuccessful play on former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's statement ("I can't see that on the issues that we address at the court that a wise old woman is going to decide a case differently than a wise old man").

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By Jen Chung in News on July 14, 2009 11:22 AM

Comments [rss]

tsol

Puerto Ricans CAN'T be racist- everyone in New York knows that!!!

NYDirk

Just ask a Dominican.

SP

Your lame attempt at humor has fallen flat and only makes you look like the bigot you know you are.

moocow

i think when this over, she should be allowed to kick sessions in the nuts. actually all americans who aren't white should be allowed to.

SP

That's discriminatory. I'm a straight white male and I'd love to give Sessions a few swift hard kicks to the nuts, and I feel it's my right as much as anyone else.

moocow

i concede that was very prejudiced of me. now let's form an orderly line.

Jen Chung

Ha!

ANGRYGOD11

She has far more than the required Senate majority to win this nomination.

Next issue, please.

John_Matrix

how dare this woman even suggest that a minority woman might have more perspective than a white male on cases involving minorities and women!

that's racist and sexist! the only way to guarantee objectivity is to have white, heterosexual males on the supreme court.

hotstepper

"I would hope that a wise white man with the richness of his experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a Latina woman who hasn't lived that life."

of course, i don't mean that in a racist way...

theboneranger

i think red's a good color for her.

seven

Everyone knows the only "unbiased" opinion in the world is any opinion of a white male.

jt10000

Ain't it great to see a bunch of rich old white guys questioning the impact of ethnicity and gender on one's life and decision-making, with an implicit assumption that they are the only people who are ethnically and gender-neutral.

It's a hoot.