A person of rich experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a person who lacks that life experience, would have sufficed. I feel the inclusion of race and sex is at the very least an attempt to appeal to the listeners/readers possible predjudice and at the worst implying that being white and male inherently makes you a better judge.
If the comment was that two people with different backgrounds might use different reasoning which may result in different conclusions I would probably agree ...
Realistically, the difference in life experiences between a 65 year old upper class white straight Protestant man who was raised in the mid-west would have a very different life experience than a 45 year old lower class black Muslim lesbian woman who was raised in California. Either experience could lead to one judge being better than the other, it really just depends on whether one judge can retain their dispassionate objectivity better than the other.
| Sqrl said: “..... a wise white man with the richness of his experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion [as a judge] than a latino female who hasn’t lived that life.” What do you think? I'm not convinced personally. edit: snipped the start of the quote to make it more understandable |
It sounds like something some puerto rican chick would say who doesn't really want to be a judge.
Yet, today, America's leaders are reenacting every folly that brought these great powers [Russia, Germany, and Japan] to ruin -- from arrogance and hubris, to assertions of global hegemony, to imperial overstretch, to trumpeting new 'crusades,' to handing out war guarantees to regions and countries where Americans have never fought before. We are piling up the kind of commitments that produced the greatest disasters of the twentieth century.
— Pat Buchanan – A Republic, Not an Empire
Got nothing on "Barack The Magic Negro." Sometimes poor wording makes things sound racist, though I can definitely see how people would think it is somewhat racist. People currently on the Supreme Court have said much more controversial things before they were appointed. I don't think it will change a thing.
You want to see people cry foul on racism though (whether or not the claim is legitimate), wait and see if the GOP filibusters Sotomayor.
We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers…Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. –Raoul Duke
It is hard to shed anything but crocodile tears over White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan's tragic analysis of the Nixon debacle. "It's like Sisyphus," he said. "We rolled the rock all the way up the mountain...and it rolled right back down on us...." Neither Sisyphus nor the commander of the Light Brigade nor Pat Buchanan had the time or any real inclination to question what they were doing...a martyr, to the bitter end, to a "flawed" cause and a narrow, atavistic concept of conservative politics that has done more damage to itself and the country in less than six years than its liberal enemies could have done in two or three decades. -Hunter S. Thompson
Kinda hard to say without context.
If that's the only thing that's been said... i'd say racist and sexist.
Afterall expierennce should be irrelevent with the law anyway. It should be all about being detached from everything but the intent of the law.
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=45d56e6f-f497-4b19-9c63-04e10199a085
The most consistent concern was that Sotomayor, although an able lawyer, was "not that smart and kind of a bully on the bench," as one former Second Circuit clerk for another judge put it. "She has an inflated opinion of herself, and is domineering during oral arguments, but her questions aren't penetrating and don't get to the heart of the issue."
Court Clerks will give you the real scoop.
Yet, today, America's leaders are reenacting every folly that brought these great powers [Russia, Germany, and Japan] to ruin -- from arrogance and hubris, to assertions of global hegemony, to imperial overstretch, to trumpeting new 'crusades,' to handing out war guarantees to regions and countries where Americans have never fought before. We are piling up the kind of commitments that produced the greatest disasters of the twentieth century.
— Pat Buchanan – A Republic, Not an Empire
| TruckOSaurus said: To me it sounds racist/sexist. Not extremely so but if you put the sentence in simple terms : White + Male = Better conclusions than Latino + Female. Implying some kind of superiority from being a white male. |
So you would agree that the statement was still racist if the races were reversed?
The more I think of it, the more racist/sexist it gets.
Basically, in a perfect world. every human being would interpret the law the same. The goal of a Judge is to be blind to all things not pertaining to the case.
So she either thinks she would be more blind then an old white guy (racist/sexist), or she would not be blind due to her background (making for a bad judge).
Either way, it's not a good statement to make.
Since much of the context has been added now I'll add the entire paragraph the quote is from:
"Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences, a possibility I abhor less or discount less than my colleague Judge Cedarbaum, our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging. Justice O’Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases. I am not so sure Justice O’Connor is the author of that line since Professor Resnik attributes that line to Supreme Court Justice Coyle. I am also not so sure that I agree with the statement. First, as Professor Martha Minnow has noted, there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, 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."
I actually think it is more damning in context than out of context but I wanted to get try and get some non-partisan reaction from it first. Like I said before not having the full context means any initial reaction doesn't necessarily transfer directly anyways but it was still interesting...to me at least =P
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