President Obama to announce SCOTUS pick at 10:15 a.m. EDT today

[KenH]

My prediction - a lot of those on the left won't be satisfied and a lot of those on the right won't be satisfied.

 

[rbell]

Obama's choice:

My preidiction - a lot of those on the left won't be satisfied and a lot of those on the right won't be satisfied.

Looks like he chose:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D98DU1KG0&show_article=1

Certainly way left of center...but not as much as some he could have chosen. We knew what we'd get. But at least he didn't pick that sleazy Janet Napolitano.

 

[KenH]

The word going around is that President Obama's pick will be the first Hispanic nominated to ba SOTUS justice - Sonia Sotomayor.

If so, this will add ethnic diversity to the court.

 

[KenH]

"I don't believe we should bend the Constitution under any circumstance. It says what it says. We should do honor to it." - Sonia Sotomayor

 

[KenH]

I need to correct my earlier statement - Ms. Sotomayor will be the first female Hispanic on the SCOTUS.

 

[KenH]

After watching the announcement ceremony I am very please with President Obama's choice. She appears to be very well qualified to sit on the SCOTUS.

I hope that that the U.S. Senate confirms her without much rancor by those on either side of the political spectrum.

 

[rbell]

After watching the announcement ceremony I am very please with President Obama's choice. She appears to be very well qualified to sit on the SCOTUS.

I hope that that the U.S. Senate confirms her without much rancor by those on either side of the political spectrum.

It should be fairly mundane...

D's don't want to undercut a D president.

R's know they don't have the votes, and basically you're replacing one left-of-center with another, so why fight.

 

[Revmitchell]

"I don't believe we should bend the Constitution under any circumstance. It says what it says. We should do honor to it." - Sonia Sotomayor

If this quote is in fact correct and actually from her then it is in direct conflict with another quote of hers:

"the appeals court is where policy is made"

http://www.baptistboard.com/showthread.php?t=59676

 

[Robert Snow]

If this quote is in fact correct and actually from her then it is in direct conflict with another quote of hers:

"the appeals court is where policy is made"

http://www.baptistboard.com/showthread.php?t=59676

I saw this a few hours ago on the TV while waiting to see my doctor and wondered how long it would be before someone referred to it here.

I think you have to look at more than one thing she has said before making a judgment, but I don't know much about her at this time. I imagine that, since she was nominated by President Obama, there will be little good said about her by the right-wing element of the BB.

 

[Crabtownboy]

My prediction - a lot of those on the left won't be satisfied and a lot of those on the right won't be satisfied.

If both sides are upset then he must have made a good choice.

RevM said:

If this quote is in fact correct and actually from her then it is in direct conflict with another quote of hers:

"the appeals court is where policy is made"

When a court hands down an opinion it makes policy either by approving of the policy or law under consideration or by striking that down and thus beginning a new policy. To me she could have used a better choice of words. For instance when the Tanney court handed down the Dred Scott decision it certainly set policy for the entire country. The final policy is determined by the Supreme Court. Usually the decision is considered the law of the land ... but law denotes policy.

 

[Revmitchell]

If both sides are upset then he must have made a good choice.

RevM said:



When a court hands down an opinion it makes policy either by approving of the policy or law under consideration or by striking that down and thus beginning a new policy. To me she could have used a better choice of words. For instance when the Tanney court handed down the Dred Scott decision it certainly set policy for the entire country. The final policy is determined by the Supreme Court. Usually the decision is considered the law of the land ... but law denotes policy.

Can you say "spin"? Baloney, judges are not to make policy under our constitution. That is for law makers. The checks and balances of the courts are not to set policy but measure policy against the constitution. There is no context in which her statement is corect. And it shows a clear agenda of legislating from the bench. She is not qualified to be judge.

 

[Scarlett O.]

I don't know.....I'm on the fence.

I don't know enough about her yet.

She appears, by her own words, to be a judicial activist. Meaning - she believes that the "court of appeals is where policy is made". (Her own words). I saw the clip of her saying that and she laughed and everyone else laughed as she tried to backpeddle and say that she didn't mean it, and that she shouldn't have said it while the cameras were rolling. I would just like to hear some clarification, from her own mouth, as to what she meant. I'm not interested in hearing what anyone else has to say about what they think she meant.

In a speech at UC Berkeley in 2001, Sotomayor suggested that her background and heritage helped guide her decision-making. "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," Sotomayor said.

But then again, she "saved" baseball.

"During a brief period in 1995," the New York Times reported, "Judge Sonia Sotomayor became revered, at least in those cities with major league baseball teams. She ended a long baseball strike that year, briskly ruling against the owners in favor of the players."

But, then AGAIN, she was against the petition of the white firefighters in Ricci vs. DeStefano.

In February 2008, in what is widely considered her most high-profile case, Sotomayor joined the unsigned opinion of a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in upholding a lower court’s decision to reject a lawsuit that had been filed by one Hispanic and 19 white firefighters against the city. The firefighters had said they were denied promotion based on their race, as the city had thrown out their 2003 promotion exam because no black firefighter received a score on the exam high enough to likely earn him a promotion.

She did favor the Mexico City Policy in regards to abortion.

David Brody of Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) News breaks down Sonia Sotomayor's most notable abortion-related decision, in which she ruled in favor of the "Mexico City Policy," finding that the U.S. government is free to ban aid to foreign groups that support or perform abortions. (As The Hill notes, this decision won her praise from at least one Republican.) Brody's prediction: that since Sotomayor has never ruled directly on the legality of abortion, she will be pressed even harder on the issue during her confirmation process.

And, here are more of her own words from today....

"I chose to be a lawyer and ultimately a judge because I find endless challenge in the complexities of the law," she said. "For as long as I can remember, I have been inspired by the achievement of our founding fathers. They set forward principles that have endured for more than two centuries. . . .

"It would be a profound privilege for me to play a role in applying those principles in the . . . controversies we face today," the president's nominee said. "I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences."

I'm still on the fence about this one.

 

[BigBossman]

I need to correct my earlier statement - Ms. Sotomayor will be the first female Hispanic on the SCOTUS.

According to Glenn Beck, this morning, he said she is the first Hispanic female riddled with diabetes on the SCOTUS.

 

[Crabtownboy]

Can you say "spin"? Baloney, judges are not to make policy under our constitution. That is for law makers. The checks and balances of the courts are not to set policy but measure policy against the constitution. There is no context in which her statement is corect. And it shows a clear agenda of legislating from the bench. She is not qualified to be judge.

Law makers make laws. Judges interprete laws through cases brought before them and that makes or at least defines policy. You create a policy on a law that has been struck down by the courts and your are a law breaker. Simple Civics 101.

I have not decided if I think she is a good or a bad choice ... I need more information. So far the criticism I've see on this BB is not convincing, just knee-jerk reactions.

Glen Beck's comment on diabetes is extremely impolity, but he is an entertainer, so what should I expect, certainly not serious political commentary. I expect as bad or worse from Rush. But he is an entertainer also and not to be taken seriously.

I guess some will criticize her for getting an education and advancing as she has instead of staying in public housing and living on food stamps. [Yes I am being sarcastic.]

The New Hour should carry a good discussion on Obama's pick. They will have people on both sides of this issue.

 

[targus]

Law makers make laws. Judges interprete laws and that makes or at least defines policy. Simple Civics 101.

Wrong.

According to your analysis then a law can be written and enacted and if it is not challenged in the courts then it is not policy.

By your anlaysis a law only becomes policy after a judge rules on it.

 

[Crabtownboy]

Wrong.

According to your analysis then a law can be written and enacted and if it is not challenged in the courts then it is not policy.

By your anlaysis a law only becomes policy after a judge rules on it.

You are right. I should have said "courts review policy or laws when a case concerning that law is brought before them and they accept it as a valid case. It is policy as long as it is not changed or struck down by a court and ultimately the Supreme Court. However if a court strikes it down, or parts of it than the policy has to change to meet the new criteria of the law.The Supreme Court may refuse to review a lower court decision and thus the lower courts decision stands and that makes policy.

 

[targus]

You are right. I should have said "courts review policy or laws when a case concerning that law is brought before them and they accept it as a valid case. It is policy as long as it is not changed or struck down by a court and ultimately the Supreme Court. However if a court strikes it down, or parts of it than the policy has to change to meet the new criteria of the law.The Supreme Court may refuse to review a lower court decision and thus the lower courts decision stands and that makes policy.

Why are you equating interpreting laws and setting policy?

They are different things.

Courts interpret laws.

Political administrations set policy.

Your insistence in this equating the two is spin. Be careful - you are making yourself dizzy.

 

[rbell]

Hey, guess what...our justice-to-be thinks being white and male places one at a disadvantage:

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

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/us/15judge.html

You can always count on leftist views...elevate group status above the individual; all the time, every time.

 

[Revmitchell]

Law makers make laws. Judges interprete laws through cases brought before them and that makes or at least defines policy. You create a policy on a law that has been struck down by the courts and your are a law breaker. Simple Civics 101.

It is incorrect to say that judicial review makes policy. It simply reviews disputes based on law. If the policy is found to be inconsistent with laws then the judges stop at that point. But they cannot tell you to hold to a policy. That is judicial activism and that is unconstitutional. Civics 101 which apparently you have never had. This nominee admitted that she should not have admitted to setting policy. You know it.

 

[KenH]

If both sides are upset then he must have made a good choice.

Well, so far I am only hearing the right-wingers having a hissy fit over her nomination. That's means she must be a good pick. :smilewinkgrin: