Blog 22

“Change we can believe in” is the campaign slogan we heard over and over during the Presidential campaign and it seems to be a promise he intended to keep when he nominated Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. Sonia Sotomayor was a woman, she was catholic and she was of Puerto Rican decent all which ruffled a few feathers in Washington. Three women in history have been appointed as a Supreme Court Justice in the United States, a moment in history that should be recognized and celebrated and yet Sonia Sotomayor nomination was met with much scrutiny. Following her nomination Sotomayor would undergo intense questioning of her past judicial decisions, her stand on important issues such as abortion and they would ask her to address her comment made in 2001 when she stated, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” Sotomayor’s nomination was met with much opposition mainly impart to her gender and race. In an article posted on Politico a writer stated “There is a reason that Lady Justice is blindfolded; she symbolizes that the judicial system is blind in interpreting the law. There is no room for personal feelings or prejudice in the court room. It is a place intended to be devoid of personal stories, designed this way to ensure the equal treatment of all people”. The questions being raised then was Sotomayor going to be able to uphold the law fairly without bias? One must ask themselves if the nomination had gone to a white female or even a white male would they had been met with such scrutiny?