SO WHAT ABOUT SOTOMAYOR?

If the pen is mightier than the sword then a complacent, incompetent, and bigoted judge is the mightiest of tyrants because the pen is the instrument by which they grant or deny justice. The courtroom is where the law becomes more than words on a page and those words give you liberty or take it away. It is where the power of governments and the acts of those that govern confront individual liberties. It is where the rubber meets the road.
Before you support the confirmation of judge Sonia Sotomayor as a Supreme Court Justice I would like you to reflect upon her decision in the Ricci case and more importantly consider what that decision represents and what example Judge Sotomayor’s confirmation would set.
I submit, that judge Sotomayor’s decision in the Ricci case clearly demonstrates that she does not have a clear understanding of the concept of equal protection embodied in the spirit and letter of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. Nor does she have a clear understanding of Congressional intent contained in the spirit and letter of the Civil rights Act of 1866 which provides a remedy for intentional race discrimination in employment by private employers and state and local public employers. The Civil Rights Act of 1871 generally applies to public employment or employment involving state action prohibiting deprivation of rights secured by the federal Constitution or federal laws through action under color of law.
In addition, Judge Sotomayor clearly lacks a fundamental understanding of Congressional intent contained within the spirit and letter of Civil Rights Act of 1964 - CRA - Title VII - Equal Employment Opportunities - 42 US Code Chapter 21
Title VII is the principal federal statute with regard to employment discrimination prohibiting unlawful employment discrimination by public and private employers, labor organizations, training programs and employment agencies based on race or color, religion, sex, and national origin. Retaliation is also prohibited by Title VII against any person for opposing any practice forbidden by statute, or for making a charge, testifying, assisting, or participating in a proceeding under the statute. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 expanded the damages available to Title VII cases and granted Title VII plaintiffs the right to jury trial.
There was nothing complicated about the Ricci case. The plaintiffs were clearly the victim of racial discrimination because they had passed an objective test which was blind to race and that all candidates had an equal opportunity to excel on. The City and State contended that the promotions were void because the test must have been prejudicial to minorities simply because of the racial demographics of the test results. Yet the city and state failed to demonstrate exactly how the test was not an objective qualifier. Were minority candidates given a different test than white candidates? Exactly what questions were prejudicial to minorities? Did minorities have the same training and access to test study materials as white candidates?
Judge Sotomayor would not make a good Supreme Court Justice because the Ricci decision demonstrates that she allows her own racial prejudices to color her judicial decisions and her definition of Equal Opportunity is one of racial preference. The written decision itself is an imperious act of both ignorance and contempt of the law specifically because it does not address the facts concerning the objectivity of the test. The written decision is no more than a straw man built on racial prejudice and preference.
The Fifth and Fourteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution and the provisions of the Civil Rights Acts are elementary concepts in our system of social justice and the Judge Sotomayor’s decision in the Ricci case demonstrates she does not get the big picture.
Fortunately the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Judge Sotomayor’s decision in the Ricci case but if she is put on the bench of the highest court there will be no protection from the harm she will do. Since, Judge Sotomayor’s decision in the Ricci case was wrong you should also consider if her decision was due to incompetence or willful disobedience of the law. Either way you decide, Judge Sotomayor’s decision itself was beyond the pale and if it weren’t for her immunity as a Judge she should be prosecuted for the depriving Ricci his rights under the color of law.
Yet in spite of the fact that Judge Sotomayor’s decision was blatantly racist and was completely in violation of state and federal law member’s on the Judiciary Committee had the temerity to sing her praises.
I strongly encourage you to contact your senators and strongly encourage them NOT to support the confirmation of Judge Sotomayor because her conduct on and off the bench is not consistent with the law requires and the duties of the office demand. After all the law and our Justices should encourage and pursue racially harmony and not incite racial discord.

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