AND JUSTICE FOR ALL

As Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor began Senate confirmation hearings Monday, the Intramuralist was somewhat disturbed by the plethora of opinion that seems presupposed for either rubber-stamping or opposing the nomination.  Justice Sotomayor deserves our respect, and we deserve transparent answers prior to a lifetime High Court appointment.  In lieu of partisan proclivity, I wish to ask the following:

10. Who are the 3 people who have influenced you most professionally?  Were they all like-minded?  Who have you most admired that has thought differently than you?

9.  Tell us:  what do your supporters claim about you that is untrue?  And what do your detractors claim about you that is true?

8.  Do you feel as if the Supreme Court has become more influential in recent decades, expressing jurisdiction in regard to unprecedented arenas or topics?  If so, what do you feel are the positive and negative consequences of that activity?

7.  Many have commented on your ethnicity.  Some even disrespectfully.  What bearing, if any, does your Hispanic heritage actually have on your decision-making?  Has it ever been cause for personal, subjective error?

6.  President Obama has identified what he terms “empathy” as a requirement for his judicial appointees.  To whom and how do you extend judicial empathy?  What does that look like?  And is it possible to empathize with a person, but still acknowledge their wrongdoing?

5.  Which is more important:  your personal political opinion or a strict interpretation of the Constitution?  If Chief Justice John Roberts was asked the same question, how would you advise him to respond?  Hence, when your opinion differs from the law, how does that impact your professional thought process?

4.  “Lady Justice,” Justitia, the Roman goddess of justice, is depicted clutching a downward double-edged sword in her right hand and measuring scales in her left. The sword symbolizes reason and justice, while the scales weigh the strengths and opposition of a specific case. Perceived as “an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems,” why, in your opinion, is Lady Justice typically depicted donning a blindfold?  What is she intentionally attempting not to see?

3.  How does the role of God and the hand of human justice fit together?

2.  Of your 6 decisions that have previously been reviewed by the Supreme Court, 4 of them have been overturned.  What have you learned from those rulings?  Have you been emboldened?  Have you been humbled?  Have you thus ever changed your opinion?

And number 1...

Remembering that you represent all Americans and must serve as an impartial justice, how do you feel about the Yankees, Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, and LA Lakers?  In other words, do tell:  who is “America’s team”?  :)

AR