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The New Haven Firefighters Get Supreme Justice
By Carole on Jun 29, 2009
Equality under the law won over judicial empathy today. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a group of men in New Haven Connecticut who worked hard to earn promotions according to the rules set forth by their employer and were then denied said promotions because of race. Not much of a news making story except for the fact that the men discriminated against are white. And the decision the high court overturned in their ruling was made, in part, by current Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. And the decision was based on the rule of law not President Obama's preferred criteria of empathy for the litigants.
President Obama Fails His Own Empathy Test
By Carole on May 31, 2009
When discussing his criteria for a Supreme Court Justice less than a month ago President Obama said "I view that quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with people's hopes and struggles, as an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions and outcomes." Evidently that is not a quality he requires of himself. This weekend President and Mrs. Obama privately jetted to New York City at taxpayer expense for a "date night" of dinner and a Broadway show. (source)
Sonia Sotomayor: Supreme Empathizer?
By Carole on May 26, 2009
With President Obama's nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court we now know for sure what he meant at that press briefing at the beginning of the month. The president said "I view that quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with people's hopes and struggles, as an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions and outcomes."
Will There Be A Supreme Filibuster?
By Carole on May 24, 2009
Once again President Obama has stated that empathy will be part of his criteria for nominating a potential Supreme Court Justice. In an interview on C-SPAN yesterday he said "You have to have not only the intellect to be able to effectively apply the law to cases before you. But you have to be able to stand in somebody else's shoes and see through their eyes and get a sense of how the law might work or not work in practical day-to-day living." (source)
Supreme Equality vs. Supreme Empathy
By Carole on May 8, 2009
As we await President Obama's announcement of his first nomination to the Supreme Court, there is little doubt that he will replace Justice Souter with an equally liberal jurist. With this liberal-for-liberal swap there should be little speculation beyond exactly who he will choose.
