Whenever any US President nominates a prospective Supreme Court Justice, a legislative process begins by which the Senate holds a confirmation hearing (see Article II, Section 2 of the US Constitution). Yet because the Senate (including its minority Republican members) is currently preparing for Judge Sonia Sotomayor's hearing, the media would have us believe this will be a unique and highly combative event.

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Certainly the confirmation process will allow for some fact finding, some public enlightenment of the nominee's opinions and even some political posturing from both sides of the ideological aisle. An important part of our constitutional process, yes; but hardly "Must See TV". So why then are we being subjected to blaring headlines like "Battle Over Sotomayor Heats Up"? This isn't a battle; it's not even a skirmish. This is simply the process of confirming a nominee for the high court. But the media, in its never-ending quest for ratings/readers insists on creating conflict where there is simply differing viewpoints and a quest for clarification.

Another media attempt to misrepresent part of the Sotomayor story is the frequent use of the term "reverse discrimination". They use it often when discussing the New Haven firefighters' lawsuit which was ruled on by Judge Sotomayor. The suit alleges that white and Hispanic firefighters were denied promotions they earned by passing an exam which no African American firefighters had passed. Reverse discrimination is a meaningless phrase unless the user's intent is to minimize an act of plain old discrimination. The dictionary defines discrimination as "treatment in favor of or against a person based on the group, class, or category to which that person belongs rather than on individual merit". That is exactly what happened to those firefighters in Connecticut - no reverse about it!

Next we have the incessant media references to Judge Sotomayor's ethnicity (Latina this/Latina that). Is Antonin Scalia's name perpetually preceded by Italian? Of course not. Judge Sotomayor was born in the Bronx. Her family's ethnic heritage is certainly part of her biography but should not be included in every news story regarding her professional accomplishments or her qualifications to be a Supreme Court Justice.

There is virtually no doubt that Ms. Sotomayor's nomination will be confirmed. The only real question is will the media cover the process with the dignity it deserves or attempt to package it as Judicial Smackdown?