NYC Letter: Quote Of The Day: Sonia Sotomayor

Day 127 of CHOPE

Um, all of the legal defense funds out there, um, they’re looking for people out there with court of appeals experience, because court of appeals is where policy is made. And I know, I know this is on tape and I should never say that because we don’t make law, I know. Um, um — [laughter] — I know. I’m not promoting it, I’m not advocating it, and, I’m … you know. [laughter]

Sonia Sotomayor,
federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Second Circuit and nominee to the
Supreme Court of the United States
JUDICIAL CLERKSHIP INFORMATION PANEL
Duke University School of Law
February 25, 2005 (childedlaw.org)
Also view video here.

And here is Ms. Sotomayor delivering the Judge Mario G. Olmos Memorial Lecture in 2001 at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law:

While recognizing the potential effect of individual experiences on perception, Judge Cedarbaum nevertheless believes that judges must transcend their personal sympathies and prejudices and aspire to achieve a greater degree of fairness and integrity based on the reason of law. Although I agree with and attempt to work toward Judge Cedarbaum's aspiration, I wonder whether achieving that goal is possible in all or even in most cases. And I wonder whether by ignoring our differences as women or men of color we do a disservice both to the law and society.

... 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.

... Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see. My hope is that I will take the good from my experiences and extrapolate them further into areas with which I am unfamiliar. I simply do not know exactly what that difference will be in my judging. But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage.

At least you know what's coming.

CHOPE.

Gender-based, ethnicity-based, empathic justice.