Judge Sotomayor and Judicial Activism

The nomination of Sonya Sotomayor to the Supreme Court speaks volumes about President Obama. The President is the type of politician who says all the right things that people want to hear, but it is his deeds that give him away.

In his selection of Judge Sotomayor, the President has signaled that he has disdain for the Constitution and the rule of law. It clearly fits into his pattern of lawlessness since he has taken office seven months ago. As a few prime examples, look no further than his appointment of twenty - one unelected czars, and his trashing of the bondholders of GM in order to reward the unions, contracts be damned.

The President had made the statement that he wants judges with empathy and in Sotomayor he has found the perfect foil. Her now infamous comment about how a wise Latina woman can reach better decisions than a white man, her further comment about American courts should look to international law, and her most infamous statement about judges making policy from the bench.

Of course none of the sentiments expressed by the President or the good judge have anything to do with the Constitution. In fact,they run directly contrary to it. But that is the President's point. Remember he has been quoted as saying that the Warren Court, one of the most liberal in history, didn't go far enough for example in redistributing wealth.

Quite simply, Judge Sotomayor is not fit for the Court. Like Obama one must ignore what she says and focus on her record. As the last two days of hearings have shown, she has been prepped and programmed to give canned, safe answers. Like the President she has a fundamental dislike of the Constitution. The problem is, Supreme Court Justices take an oath to uphold the Constitution and not rewrite it because they disagree with it.

Further, this empathy business is just plain nonsense and more liberal psychobabble. Judges should not show empathy but should apply the law the to the facts and issue rulings accordingly. That is why we say that justice is blind and that all people are equal before the law. Chief Justice Roberts hit a home run during his confirmation hearings when he said that a judge must be completely impartial like an umpire. When asked whether he was for the big guy or the little guy, the Chief Justice responded that he would be for the little guy when the law was on his side, and for the big guy when the law was on the big guys side. Precisely.

Judges don't make law, they interpret it and if Judge Sotomayor wants to make law she should run for Congress. The problem is that the President has the votes and in the absence of a major gaffe during the confirmation hearings, the Judge will be confirmed. As we all know or should know, elections have consequences and this nomination is a major consequence of the President's election.