http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/us/politics/28web-court.html?hp

Racist. Judicial activist. Liberal. These are all things Sonia Sotomayor has been accused of in the past three days. The author of the article I read discussed varying viewpoints from both sides rather than her own, addressing both criticisms and support for the recent Supreme Court justice nominee. Some conservatives worry that she plans to “impose her personal political agenda on the law.” Sotomayor is a centrist, but Republicans believe she will inflict liberalism on everyone. In his nomination speech, Obama stated that the Supreme Court’s job is to interpret laws, not make them. Not everyone trusts him to pick someone who will do that.

Newt Gingrich stirred up some controversy by calling Sotomayor racist, and suggesting she withdraw because a racist white male would in the same situation. The quote on which Gingrich based his claims was from a speech in 2001. She said, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” I wasn’t there to hear that quote, but I don’t get a sense of racial superiority in it. I think she was trying to comment on experience, not race. It came out wrong, and is now being blown out of proportion. As Obama quoted in the speech, “The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience.” Experience is not something that Sotomayor lacks. She graduated from Princeton and Yale Law School before becoming an Assistant District Attorney in New York. Altogether, she has thirty years of experience as a judge – she has merit. Yet some people think her race was a bigger determining factor. One Republican senator, Orrin G. Hatch, disagreed with Gingrich’s opinions, saying that the Senate has to be fair by looking at her record, opinions, speeches, etc.

As I read different articles about Sonia Sotomayor, I found myself looking at the readers’ comments, which is never a good idea. One of my personal favorites swore that Obama was actually born in Kenya, and Sotomayor will “destroy and tear down the Constitution.” Really? Obama nominates a slightly liberal-leaning moderate, and people still have heart attacks about it. You can’t win.