So the big deal with this potential appointment to the US Supreme Court is that she said her background and experience enhances her legal vision -- or something like that.
Opponents of her appointment seized on her comment and suggested that showed she'd be biased on the bench.
Nonsense.
Judging is not a matter of binary decision making -- it involves a vast amount of discretion and discernment. Even the simplest motor vehicle case requires the judge to decide what was 'reasonable' in the circumstances leading to the car crash. And deciding what is 'reasonable' requires the judge to consider the circumstances in context -- and context comes from the judge's life experience.
Put otherwise, if a white, middle aged man is appointed a judge his background and experience will determine many of his decisions. That doesn't mean his decisions will be biased -- it means that he will see the world, and the law, through his eyes. The same way Sotomayor will see the world through her eyes.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
1 comment:
Yeah! Now that all the GOP's cards have been played, those of us who laid down our bets years ago that 20th Century Dixiecrats would morph into 21st Century Republicants can collect our winnings and leave the table!
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