First Latina Candidate for the Supreme Court

President Barack Obama has nominated Sonia Sotomayor for a spot as a judge on the Supreme Court.

Constitution

Different than in Holland, the highest judicial authority in America is allowed to test a law on the constitution. Because of that, the societal influence of that court is much greater than that of the High Council in The Hague.

In the United States, Supreme Court judges can, for example, declare an abortion law invalid that has been approved by Congress because it is unconstitutional. If the Second Chamber [in Holland] adopts an abortion law that is not in line with the constitution, then the new law will come into force because the newer law takes precedence over an older one, even if the older law is the constitution.

Approval

The appointment of a new Supreme Court judge, valid for life, has to be approved by the Senate. Therefore, it sometimes becomes the subject of a fierce political conflict, especially when the president’s political party is a minority in the Senate or the nomination is controversial. A candidate that is considered too much of an activist or too legalistic can evoke big political resistance.

The Republicans, who have been on a collision course since January, hesitate to attack Sotomayor. Firstly, they lack the votes to stop a nomination, and, secondly, never before has a Latina been a Supreme Court justice.

Electoral comeback

And would the Republicans want to experience an electoral comeback in 2010, then they will have attract more Hispanics tot heir party. If Sotomayor is confirmed, she will be the third female Supreme Court justice in history.

Her judicial past will be laid bare in any case anyway. An important role in that is her verdict concerning the firemen of New Haven, Conn., which she worked on as a member of a lower judicial court. In 2003, the management of the New Haven fire department of New Haven decided that certain promotions could be gained on the basis of a written test.

But a year later, the city council eliminated that test, after it led to all but one of the candidates eligible for a promotion being white. One of those white firemen started a lawsuit. But the court that Sotomayor is still a part of denied his appeal

“Favoritism based on race” is heard in certain right-wing circles. The city council, however, dismissed the test because it discriminates in the workplace. The case is now at the Supreme Court.

Positive discrimination

The discussion on the acceptability of positive discrimination (already for years past its prime) and of certain tests has ignited again. For example, no potential employer can put a sign on his door these days with the text: “women need not apply.” If he only wants to hire men, male candidates, he can write out a weight lifting test. Except in the unlikely case that, unexpectedly, some she-men do apply, he can reach his goal this way.

Sotomayor will have to demonstrate a lot of skill in this legal minefield during her approval hearings.