Blog 22

There was much speculation that Sonia Sotomayor would be a nominee for the Supreme Court since Barack Obama took presidency. Another major candidate in initial nomination was Ken Salazar. Since her official nomination in April 2009, Sotomayor was supported by the Democratic Party. On the other hand the Republican Party were highly critical of her. A popular quotation that Sotomayor was highly criticized for “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion that a white male who hasn’t lived that life” from previous speeches. For this quotation she was called a racist and her qualification for the Supreme was a popular media topic. Sotomayor retorted and said that she meant that someone with a socio-economic background other than a white, middle class male would be more beneficial. But she her integrity was being questioned, Senators questioned whether she had let past life experiences influence her decisions.
On the other hand, Sam Alito made a statement “When I get a case about discrimination, I have to think about people in my own family who have been discriminated against, because of their ethnic background, or because of religion, or because of gender.” But he was not criticized for making a false statement. Alito is blatantly making a claim that he considers his past life experiences- ironically the same thing Sotomayor was being questioned for. The Color lines video makes a good point, what kind of racism could have Alito or anyone in his family experienced being white, upper class?
It is apparent that Sotomayor’s speech is more scrutinized than Alito; these could be due to race and gender. The American Bar Association was unanimous in supporting her nomination to the Supreme Court. In the end, All Democratic votes when for Sotomayor while only one Republican supported her. She is also the first Hispanic to be on the Supreme Court. She followed suit of Sandra Day O’Connor, first woman on the Supreme court, and was the third woman to do so. It is apparent any decisions she makes will be scrutinized that anyone else on the Supreme Court.