Judge Sotomayor

[Gilbert, Lauren]

There is an excellent piece by Jeffrey Toobin in the June 8 &15 New Yorker on  how diversity historically has been an important criteria in appointing justices to the Supreme Court, from the geographic and religious diversity concerns early in our history to the race and gender diversity concerns in modern times.  I've included a link below but you may need to be registered with the New Yorker to view it.  In the May 25 issue, Toobin had another excellent article on Justice Roberts discussing how in every major case since he became chief justice, he has sided with the prosecution over the defendant, the state over the condemned, the executive over the legislature, and the corporate plaintiff over the individual.   In Toobin's comment on Sotomayor, while he recognizes that her background may indeed be inseparable from her views, as she acknowledges, he emphasizes that this has been the case for every justice who has ever served on the Court.  He concludes that Sotomayor is a fitting choice "of a changed and changing nation."  I highly recommend reading Toobin's two pieces together.  
 
Lauren Gilbert
Professor of Law
St. Thomas University School of Law
 
 
http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=2009-06-08&email-analytics=newsletter090608p037#folio=036


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