Obama Picks Latina Judge With a Bad Attitude

Word is out that Barack Obama has picked Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. That makes the woman and Hispanics happy, but won't do anything to improve the court. I did a post on her way back on May 1. Here's what Politico had to say about her:

-Judge Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court would be very concerning given her hard-left record on the Court of Appeals, where she is recognized by practitioners as one of the more liberal judges.

-Judge Sotomayor’s personal views may cloud her jurisprudence. As Judge Sotomayor explained in a 2002 speech at Berkeley, she believes it is appropriate for a judge to consider their “experiences as women and people of color” in their decision making, which she believes should “affect our decisions.”

-Only just recently, in Ricci v. DeStefano, Judge Sotomayor was chastised by fellow Clinton-appointee Jose Cabranes for going to extraordinary lengths to dispense with claims of unfair treatment raised by firefighters. Judge Sotomayor’s panel heard a case raising important questions under Title VII and equal protection law, but attempted to dispose of the firefighter’s arguments in a summary order, until called out by Judge Cabranes. The Supreme Court has agreed to review the case.

-Substantial questions also persist regarding Judge Sotomayor’s temperament and disposition to be a Supreme Court justice. Lawyers who have appeared before her have described her as a “bully” who “does not have a very good temperament” and who “abuses lawyers” with “inappropriate outbursts.”

She was chosen not because she's the best person for the court, but because she's a woman and a Hispanic and will make it very costly for the GOP to oppose her.

Frankly, if I were in charge of the GOP response, I'd ignore Sotomayor and let her nomination go through simply because there's not much benefit to the GOP to oppose her. She'll be replacing another liberal, so it's unlikely that she'll make a significant difference in cases decided by this court. Better to save a hard-hitting GOP response for the next nominee, especially if one of the conservatives is going to be replaced.

I'm not saying the GOP should just rollover. They should ask tough questions during the hearing and they should take every opportunity they can to lay out her judicial philosophy for everyone to understand. However, a filibuster on this nominee would be politically foolish and would do more harm than good.

She may be good at batting around lawyers, but wait until she goes head-to-head with Justice Scalia. He'll be having Puerto Rican for lunch.

UPDATE: The (liberal) New Republic offers this ringing endorsement:

The most consistent concern was that Sotomayor, although an able lawyer, was "not that smart and kind of a bully on the bench," as one former Second Circuit clerk for another judge put it. "She has an inflated opinion of herself, and is domineering during oral arguments, but her questions aren't penetrating and don't get to the heart of the issue.""

Patrick Ruffini adds this on Twitter:

Sotomayor for SCOTUS: Because the Constitution Doesn't Mean What It Actually Says