Court could use a “wise Latina woman”

Some social conservatives can’t stop complaining about how Judge Sonia Sotomayor is unsuitable for the U.S. Supreme Court because she had the audacity to point out that different perspectives, life experiences and identities can lead to different judicial opinions.

In 2001, Sotomayor gave a speech in which she said that the ethnicity and sex of a judge “may and will make a difference in our judging.” She compared the judicial opinions of a “wise Latina woman” to those of a white male judge.

And for that, the conservatives call her a racist, a bigot and someone who puts identity politics above the law.

Enough with the handwringing already. Of course, a different point of view can lead to a difference of legal opinion. That’s so much of a no-brainer that even those with no brain should be able to understand it. After all, how else do you explain judges coming to completely opposing conclusions regarding the same case?

Take the recent California Supreme Court decision regarding marriage equality for same-sex couples. Six of the seven judges ruled that gays and lesbians would still get “equal treatment under the law” even after the word “marriage” was taken away from them.

Most gay Americans, however, understand that this is completely wrong. You are not equal under the law unless you are treated equally by the law. Taking away the word marriage – and all that the word confers – results in a clear inequality under the law.

And creating a parallel system of civil unions or domestic partnerships – “separate but equal” arrangements – is not “equal treatment under the law,” either. Many African Americans – as well as other minorities who have suffered unfair discrimination – understand this.

But many straight white men – people like Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh – don’t get it, because they haven’t had the life experiences that allow them to understand it.

This is one of the reasons why we need more diversity – and more “empathy,” as President Obama put it – on the bench.

But the Limbaughs and Gingriches of the world hold onto this idea that all judges have to do is apply the law, without any interpretation. Either they are arguing this because it sounds good and they score political points with the hard right, or they don’t see most of the interpretation that goes on because they agree with it. After all, the grand majority of the federal bench is made up of straight white men.

Only two women have served on the U.S. Supreme Court so far. Only two African Americans. No Latinos. None have been openly gay.

Does being a Latina woman alone qualify Sotomayor for the Supreme Court? Absolutely not. But if she is indeed qualified based on the requirements that count for such things, being a Latina woman can only help.