Sessions Will Vote Against Sotomayor For Citing Heritage — But He Supported Alito
Oh, what the heck, let’s bring this one up again. Today Senator Jeff Sessions announced in a piece for USA Today that he’ll vote against Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court.
Sessions cited, among other things, her failure to convincingly repudiate her “wise Latina” comment, in which she disclosed that her jurisprudence had been influenced by her race and gender.
But as noted here recently, Sessions also voted to confirm Samuel Alito, despite the fact that he said this during his confirmation hearings:
When I get a case about discrimination, I have to think about people in my own family who suffered discrimination because of their ethnic background or because of religion or because of gender. And I do take that into account.
A number of Republicans are breaking ranks and intend to vote for Sotomayor. Seems worth noting that those who vote against her, like Sessions, are basically endorsing the idea that it’s okay to have biases and prejudices rooted in heritage — but only if you’re a white man.
This blog’s homepage is here. RSS feed here. Twitter feed here. Email me here.
And this is news because . . . ? I mean, the sky is blue today too.
The headline says that Sessions will vote against Sotomayor because she cited her heritage. That is misleading. Sessions writes that he will vote against her based on several decisions that he feels were “contrary to the Constitution. Each was decided in a brief opinion, short on analysis.” He doesn’t believe she will be able “to resist the siren call of judicial activism.”
Seems to me that he doesn’t mention her heritage at all. (Flag, 15 yards.)
“There is one stark difference between the quote from Alito and Sotomayor’s statement: Alito never said he would be MORE qualified than someone from another ethnic group to make judicial decisions simply because of his ethnicity.“
http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/hbo/2009/jul/15/nominee-explains-wise-latina-quip/
sbj, come on. One reason he gave was her insufficient repudiation of “wise latina”
Ideology and Misogyny. Pure & Simple. Hope the hispanic media plays in an endless loop till 2016.
Greg, c’mon. Your headline is a low blow that is not supported by what he writes in the op ed. “He will vote against her because she cited her heritage” – that’s a load of BS! Your headline is a sop to your more liberal readers who want to believe that all Repubs are hypocrites and racists. Sessions will vote against her for the reasons I stated and, if you want to read his mind, because she said that her heritage (and gender) would make her a BETTER judge. Alito never said that.
Technical foul, one free throw, possession to the other side.
Crusty Old White Men are scared to death.
@SBJ… The hypocricy I see is here…
“But as noted here recently, Sessions also voted to confirm Samuel Alito, despite the fact that he said this during his confirmation hearings:
When I get a case about discrimination, I have to think about people in my own family who suffered discrimination because of their ethnic background or because of religion or because of gender. And I do take that into account.”
If comments about race makes one think a judge is biased, then it should be a uniform concern. When not a uniform concern, it leads one to look for other reasons.
@chuck: Sotomayor said that (she hoped) her heritage and gender would make her a BETTER judge. Alito did not say that he hoped his heritage would make him a BETTER judge.
That’s the difference and it is key. (And I do not believe that Sessions says anywhere that he thinks Sotomayor is racially biased.)
Sotomayor will get more Repub votes than Alito got Dem votes at any rate.
@sbj
“Sotomayor will get more Repub votes than Alito got Dem votes at any rate.”
I should hope so, considering she is immensely more qualified to be sitting on the Supreme Court than Justice Alito is.
@BBQ: ooooookay … Was Alito UNqualified? How do you defend Obama when he did not vote for Roberts even though Obama felt Roberts was qualified?
Republican Jeff “KKK Supporter” Sessions won’t support a Hispanic for the Supreme Court.
And water is wet.