1 - See Lat's Twitter feed:

http://twitter.com/davidlat/status/3151934307

FIRST Latina Justice!

#2 I smell stealth layoff!

I actually blame the conservatives for this by starting the trend with Clarence Thomas. This is a stupid and superficial road we are going down.

5 - Uh, what about Thurgood Marshall?

Or if you blame the conservatives, why not blame Reagan for Sandra Day O'Connor?

She's gotten away with 2-paragraph opinions, and now she has a job for life. NO CLERKS NEEDED.

How much you wanna bet she doesn't hire ONE white male clerk?

Benjamin Cardozo properly holds the title of the court’s first Hispanic justice. He was a Sephardic Jew whose family came to America in the 18th century from Portugal and Spain. Justice Sotomayor is fond of telling this story.

Former law clerk who knows SS's well from her days on 2d Cir.

5 here,

6, I stand corrected vis-a-vis Marshall. I read The Brethren not too long ago. Even Woodward thought Marshall was a lazy idiot.

Ginsburg and Sotomayor going to the ladies' room together?

First to say, only a gay man could remain oblivious to the repulsive imagery this conjures up. Hurry back, Elie.

7 - You idiot, she's had a job for life ever since she was appointed to the SDNY by Bush Sr.

My name is Sonia Sotomayor and I like tacos and burritos.

Taco-flavored kisses

Is Elie seriously gone??

WTF, Lat?

Look I know people ridicule him for being a horrible writer, but doing that is FUN -- how can you take that away from us?

Elie, please come back!!

it's august. elie is probably on vacation. geez.

"How much you wanna bet she doesn't hire ONE white male clerk?"

I'll bet you are a broke, lonely, whiny loser.

It was a lot better when they ONLY hired white men, wasn't it, white boy?

Thank you, 16. She is going to be a fine Justice. And it will be fun to watch her interaction with Scalia.

The Court, just like the Constitution, is a living and growing institution. It's one of the reasons this country's still around.

"Wise Latina" is an oxymoron. Like a jumbo shrimp or a physically-fit Elie.

17 - You don't need a written constitution to practice living constitutionalism. That would be just as easy (probably easier) to achieve without one. With one, it will only get in the way from time to time. That's sort of because a constitution is meant to obstruct change, not facilitate it. Here's to repealing the silly thing once and for all, and being honest about what it is federal judges actually do.

And don't expect much of her interactions with Scalia. Scalia will run intellectual circles around her. Justice Sotormayor is officially the least intelligent member of the United States Supreme Court. I guess the "wise" in "wise Latina" is relative.

11, thanks for pointing that out.
Bring back Elie, how else can we learn to be like a partner a scream and ridicule him for grammar mistakes. Wait, that was Elie's benevolent plan all along! To groom us to be partner's.

8 - Poor, white male clerks, oh what ever will they do?

Your title is racist. She is an American and speaks English. It is insulting to Puerto Rican Americans and reveals an imagine of Hispanics as stubborn outsiders who would rather not learn English and milk our nation's resources and unsurpassed generosity.

10 - I'm sure you have to be a lazy idiot to take a case to the Supreme Court, argue it, and then win.

Actually history shows that there has never been a hard working or smart black employee of any company.

Also, I don't think a persons work should speak for them, it's always better when you have a colleague to speak on your behalf - it's always more accurate that way.

So now we have a fat pig to join the rodent (Ginsburg). Here's to looking at another grotesque for the next 20 years.

16: yes.

19: true dat.

9: You know SS's well? Is it an artesian well? A wishing well? I thought law clerks were supposed to be literate.

I guess 12 doesn't disagree with the point of 7's comment.

Living document = no principle restraining authority = tyranny. Nice work "liberals."

Of course "living document = tyranny" because if the basic concept didn't mean ultimate destruction and chaos then it wouldn't make any sense.

Amendments are stupid anyway. They only mess up the perfection which is the Constitution. I'd be glad if we got rid of all of them and just used the document as it. That would make the most sense 250 years since its inception.

Damn. There a lot of angry white law students/recent law grads posting.

23=28=someone who gives a bad name to sarcasm.

The average white man should be like a beach bum Jamaican without a care in the world. BUT they tend to be the most angry people on the planet.

I know white guys without college educations with white collar hundred thousand dollar jobs. You could be a black guy with 6 degrees and a white guys is still going to wonder if you're worth the money.

Try to have a life outside of work and he is going to call you lazy. There is absolutely no reason to work 70 hours a week EVERY FREAKING WEEK but yet white people think this is the way business should be conducted at the detriment to their families and their health. But honestly I could give a F. Keep it up.

scalia is going to work intellectual circles around this token hispanic affirmative action choice.

26/7 - See if you're gonna insult somebody, at least get the facts straight.

-12

THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD........................

You people are crazy. She will be like Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Stevens where they vote for upholding affirmative action programs but then mostly hire white male clerks from the top of the class at the best schools and never lower their credentials standards so as to hire a woman or minority.

If only the DOJ and other federal agencies were as colorblind and credentials conscious as the liberal Supreme Court justices. Then I'd finally have a fed gov't lawyer job instead of slaving away at a biglaw firm. I keep losing out on positions to people from the bottom of their class at Howard Univ or some other TTT who fulfill the massive AA programs at the various federal agencies.

I used to be pretty liberal but lately I've been angrily crumpling up my rejection letters akin to the guy in the Jesse Helms ad. I needed that [fed agency] job. But they had to go and give it to a minority.

This economy has turned me into a bitter, angry white male.

Apparently, the racist poster at 31 holds several worthless degrees, hates unions, and has never been to East Asia.

White guys: I'm brown, but I agree with a lot of your sentiments posted here (at least the intelligent stuff): sotomayor is retarded and she looks like my asshole on a bad day...

...but...

31 - you my ni**a dogg...honestly, white men, you need to chill the fuck out. Just calm down...or, come to think of it, take 31's advice and don't calm down. Your effeminate aggressive airs helped me bag a sexy ass disgruntled white girl. thx!

No prob, 37 - nobody else wants to bang nappy headed hoes, so why should you?

20 = comment of the year

35--several minorities and women regularly land SOCTUS clerkships. There's usually a few every term.

And all judges are insanely picky but you regularly see black and latino clerks in the COA and District courts as well.

35: you sir, are racist. If anyone is keeping you from achieving whatever you wanted, it's not some mythical person of color. It's you.

38 - I have never been attracted to swarthy women. I love white girls...its white guys who are giant losers. (I'm speaking generally here...)

In my envisioned racial paradise, every asian girl would be with a black guy, every white girl would be with a brown man and...everyone else simply wouldn't reproduce.

Help me make this happen.

- 31

Viva la jueza empatica!!

31/42 - that works for you as a brown/black guy but not for women. They understandably think you swarthy guys are disgusting and want the white guys. Sorry but that's life. The best get the best. At least they produce good looking children for your children to dream about.

That's why you always see the swarthy guys with the leftovers - big white cows. Too gross for white men but still a luxury for the dark guys who would otherwise be stuck with morbidly obese black women or short, fat, hairy, greasy Sotmayor looking latinas.

"scalia is going to work intellectual circles around this token hispanic affirmative action choice."

I wouldn't be so sure. In fairness, Sotomayor may employ the classic liberal rebuttal of "shout incredibly loudly and interrupt the other side as much as possible."

If she can only find a way to do this in her written opinions, then she'll clearly be an innovative and fearsome force on the bench.

44 - is right, a black guy has never screwed a hot white chick.

Except for every professional football player, basketball player, baseball player, every black actor, every black guy with a good job in a predominately white town. Oh, and don't forget all the college athletes, drama majors, and the randomly decent looking black guy with a nice body,charm and his own apartment.

Other than that above mentioned group hot white chicks find black guys utterly repulsive.

Also, I don't know why Scalia is the cats meow. I watched his 60 minutes interview and even Leslie wasn't buying his spit.

"I watched his 60 minutes interview and even Leslie wasn't buying his spit."

Clearly, if as impartial, intellectual, and influential a legal mind as Lesley Stahl can't bring herself to support Scalia, he most certainly not the cats meow.

I hear Katie Couric doesn't even like him.

Did she shout and interrupt him enough? Maybe she should have asked him about sodomizing his wife and yelled "racist! homophobe! pwned!"

That would have shown him the error of his ways.

47 - ad hominem attack much?

Do you have anything else to offer? Because I doubt his widely known "intellect" is based on the average American reading his opinions.

The best quote, after Leslie gave him the business: "Anyway, that's my view and it happens to be correct."

Hahahahaha.....

I can't wait until I have the honor of arguing a case before her

Soon-to-be 1L T15 stud

soTTTomayor

"47 - ad hominem attack much?"

hmmm, did I attack you personally . . . um, no.

Are your qualms with Scalia that you have cited entirely personal (his intellect, whether he is the cats meow--I like that phrase), as with most liberals, as opposed to arguing over the aspects of decisions and debating them.

Yep.

So do you know what the definition of "ad hominem" is?

46 - good point. We all know that almost all black guys fall into the categories you mentioned. And who says old impotent guys don't get hot chicks? Look at Hugh Hefner. Therefore, I will conclude that women are attracted to all old impotent guys. Given your obviously stellar reasoning skills, I can't believe you are a liberal.

Forbes rankings last week: West Point #1

51 - damn dude, just offer something. Share your personal experience with the beam of light which is Scalias intellect. Other than that we're going to keep going around in circles.

"Clearly, if as impartial, intellectual, and influential a legal mind as Lesley Stahl can't bring herself to support Scalia, he most certainly not the cats meow. I hear Katie Couric doesn't even like him." If you don't think that this is a slight on Leslie which in turn is a slight on me, since I cited her reaction, than you are mistaken.

BUT that isn't important. I raised the question because I wanted to know the source of his intellectual adulation. Can you supply it or do you want to continue with the needless, worthless dance?

52 - take however many leaps of logic you feel is necessary to serve your purpose. I condone all jumping with regards to my words.

Just know that 44 is wrong and that he shouldn't be putting that white lady box on a pedestal - it's weak amoung other things.

55 - You've gone from semi-coherent to incoherent. And I believe you already put it on a pedestal. See 42.

9,

Spain does not equal Hispanic.

This is the future of law practice in America:

1) Supreme Court justice is confirmed
2) Assert, without any specific sources to back this up, that she is unqualified and, therefore, a token choice.
3) Make the discussion about how much better white men are professionally and how, therefore, only they deserve white women, who are equally much better than their non-white counterparts at being objects of male conquest.

Despicable.

56 - I'm not 42. It's o.k. we all look alike.

58, some brown dude started talking about white chicks being objects of male conquest. Agree that the discussion shouldn't go there, but one white guy saying that white chicks like white guys -- after several posts saying white guys are pussies and brown guys screw white chicks -- isn't the debate that you described. You have used a classic liberal tactic here -- take the debate a certain way (or have your segregates/minions do it), and then blame the other side for it.

Despicable.

40 -- I didn't say there are no non-white male clerks. Of course there are. I just was pointing out that no justice engages in affirmative action despite the fact that they upheld the practice.

41 - You probably do not live in the DC area. It's common knowledge that the demographics are wildly different between the private sector and federal gov't jobs. DOD agency = x% black. Defense contractor = one-half x% or one-third x% black.

It's the same in the legal profession. Private biglaw firm in DC: secretaries/paralegals = 75+% white. Gov't agency: secretaries/paralegals = 75+% black.

It's really astonishing how different the private sector and fed gov't is in demographics in DC. I didn't believe it until I saw it.

60 - "In my envisioned racial paradise, every asian girl would be with a black guy, every white girl would be with a brown man and...everyone else simply wouldn't reproduce." - notice the "in my"? Which means he was referring to HIMSELF and not every male. Fail.

"Just know that 44 is wrong and that he shouldn't be putting that white lady box on a pedestal - it's weak among other things." - notice "he" which means I was speaking about 44 and no one else. Fail #2.

60 - your attention to detail is making this too easy.

Where are the better law blogs... this is getting boring?

62 - I agree. Nothing wrong with someone saying that in their perfect world certain races of people wouldn't breed. Its just HIS subjective preference. Like how Hitler preferred Aryans to breed. We all have our own tastes. To each his own I say.

62 is obviously either retarded or just trying to get attention. In either case, I suggest you simply ignore him.

I am new to this blog and am truly saddened by the anger and bigotry displayed here, particularly the blatant racism & sexism. Are you all really the people I sit next to in class, too cowardly to say such ignorant things in public so you come here to spew your hatred anonymously? We are all good people trying to make it through life the best we can. Why must we say such horrible things to one another? You must know in your heart it is wrong. Whether you do or not, I feel sorry for you because you clearly have nothing better to do on a summer weekend than to surf the web thinking of hurtful things to say to your fellow human beings. What a sad existence…

While I personally believe Sotomayor is a poor choice, I find it even sadder that so many attorneys and aspiring law students would post such bigoted drivel about her.

63 - I wasn't agreeing, simply pointing out where you were wrong. The two are not the same. Why you coupled the two I don't know, but as I have seen on this site it is no more a unique leap in logic than most other posts.

Taking great leaps in logic seems to be the style here at ATL. Why you would expose yourself by using such a flawed debate technique I don't know.

Damn. Talk about white male entitlement. Unless you are a white male, they presume you are unqualified. People claim that Sotomayor is a poor choice, but there's nothing to back that up. The people who say she is a good choice point to a wealth of experience as a prosecutor and as a jurist. On one side, we get specifics and credentials. On the other side, we get unsubstantiated claims about qualifications and thinly-veiled appeals to white male entitlement. And you people are getting world-class training in the art of persuasion? Surely you can do better than that.

"The average white man should be like a beach bum Jamaican"

Yeah, this planet can't afford that. Everything would come to a stop, along with the handouts in the ghetto community.

It sickens me that a group of individuals who claim that race or ethnicity shouldn't matter when selecting a person for a position to then celebrate that person's race or ethnicity is the greatest form of hypocrisy that exists today.

70 - I agree; that you are sickened is indeed the greatest form of hypocrisy.

isn't the phrase "wise latina" hypocritical?

sotomayor lsat: less than or equal to 155?

"Justice Scalia now has competition for being the most aggressive questioner on the high court bench."

After asking a stupid question and being shown up by a lawyer in her first oral argument, I predict she'll give Justice Thomas a run for his money as the dumbest-and-therefore-too-timid-to-ask-a-question justice.

Actually, I think she really will make better judgments than you know who's. But what do I know?

http://advanced-penis-enlargement.com/

Juevos Rancheros!

Harriet Miers > Sonia Sotomayor - Burritos. Discuss.

73: I'd take 1:1 on that bet.

65- You are welcome

LIBERALS:

Don't whine, liberals. Listen...I'm not a conservative! I promise. But let me explain to you what's going on here so that you aren't so sickened...because you oughtn't be! I am not racist. I swear! I love all colors, puerto rican and hatian! But Obama has made a really crappy choice for a supreme court justice. He really has, this woman is retarded.

Now, you might have noticed that many of the commenters on ATL are trying to be funny. Well...when a bad justice deserves to be made fun of...RACE IS ONE OBVIOUS TOPIC! Another is ugly. Another is...did I mention ugly?

This is satire, it is an act of court jestership going on. Don't think for a second that sotomayor represents latinas! Sotomayor - no matter her upbringing - was churned and processed by the system into a member of the ruling class! A poor choice, I think. The seemingly "racist" comments posted here - at least the funny ones - are simply the "weapons of the weak" as Jim Scott would put it.

So...grow a sense of humor. Someone who takes race so seriously is, I think, the truer racist.

Lat assumed Sotomayor can speak Spanish because she's Newyorican.

Lat is racist.

80 - you might not be a racist, but you are weak and stupid.

It's funny how many "retarded" people get to the top of their class at the worlds best schools. What's the trick?

And notice how everyone hates Sotomayor but then they don't offer up ANYONE else. Why doesn't that happen in even your most casual conversation with non-"professionals"? If someone doesn't like the car, player or even the music their buddy may prefer they are going to offer up something "better". "You like Marbury for the Celtics? Marbury sucks what about Tony Parker, he's faster, has a better jumper..." etc. etc.

I know it's harder to do with people in the private sector but since she sucks so bad at least tell me why.

There is some debate as to whether Sotomayor is the first 'Hispanic' justice. Some say that that honor goes to Justice Cardozo, who was of Portuguese descent and that instead, Justice Sotomayor is the first Latina justice. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104562346

Why are so many white males are so fragile? They've had every advantage since the inception of our Country. But whenever a minority is successful, many white males start their bitching about how all of this is unfair. Really?

Chris Rock put it best, "if ya'll are losing, than who's winning?"

84, not every white male is rich or has ancestors who were in America in 1776. Just like how not every black male is a rapper or professional athlete. hth.

I have a dream that one day people will be chosen for jobs not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

85 - I didn't mean to imply every white male is rich or has ancestors who were here in 1776. My reference to "advantage", although including wealth, also includes other important things such as education and connections (especially familial). There is no denying that many white males have had such advantages (relative to most minorities). There is also no denying that wealth, education, and networks are all critical when advancing, especially in an ultra-competitive environment.

I echo your reference to Dr. King's speech. To bring it back to Justice Sotomayor's rise to the bench, obviously her race was relevant, but I don't believe people are being intellectually honest when they claim she is unqualified to serve. It bothers me when some discount everything she has done in her professional career because of a few poorly chosen words. I wonder, had she not made those "wise latina" comments, would there be any opposition to her appointment.

--84

"A wise white man with the richness of his experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a black or Hispanic woman who hasn’t lived that life."
-- nope, not a racist

Can't wait for the first gay justice... oh wait...

In the spirit of the inane and insane pickiness of commenters, I'll be the first to point out that, in the Spanish language, the word "juez" refers both male and female judges. So, Justice Sotomayor is Juez Sotomayor.

--White Girl in the Midwest

87 - Nope, not racist just a simple truth. Ask the average black guy to make a critical hockey decision verses your typical white guy. Most likely although not in every case because of the richness of this life experiences the white guy will make the wiser hockey decision.

In case you forgot the definition of racist, is all about your inherent advantages/inferiorites based solely on your race. Not your life experiences or gender.

Just beacause it doesn't sound PC doesn't mean it's racist.

80 - I'd hate for you to be my attorney.

57,

I suppose "Spain does not equal Hispanic", because Hispania includes both Spain and Portugual. Therefore, people from both Spain and Portugal are Hispanic.

This is in contrast to Native Americans, which many inexplicably seem to confuse with Hispanics.

nice one 88

19: +1.

So when are we going to have an Asian-American SC justice? Now that's a group that actually has been s* on by America - we put Japanese-Americans into labor camps during WWII. We nuked their freakin' country! We went to war and divided Korea. We test weapons on island-nations in their backyard. But you don't hear anything about that, do you? Despite how many Asian-Americans are in this country, you don't hear the whine, do you?

Where was the horrible injustice we did to American-born individuals of Puerto-Rican descent? Oh yeah, we gave their little island nation protection by the American military so they didn't turn into a facsimile of Cuba and Haiti, and then we let them accomplish their wildest dreams in the best American universities. Whoa... rough.

My point is that if we are celebrating Sotomayor for her being the first Latina or the second Hispanic, then we are doing it for the wrong reasons, and it is a damn slippery slope...

I confirm the comment of 89 ... Spanish being my first language and all... the word "Juez" has no gender, but follows the articles "El" (THE - masculine) or "La" (THE - femenine)... so it should be "La Juez"...

88: LOL

If we could re-write history - I wonder what on earth Miers would add to a conversation with Ginsberg and Sotomayor in the ladies' room at One First Street.

96: Something like this....

Sotomayor: What are you girls up to?
Ginsberg: Still waiting for Scalia to die.
Miers: Just play'in with my dried up clit to Melissa Etheridge songs...

The quality of discussion on this thread is quite disappointing.

Justice Sotomayor's admissions to college and law school may have been aided by affirmative action, she may not have had a particularly impressive LSAT score, and she may occasionally have made some ill-phrased public comments, but that does not mean that she is unqualified for her appointment, unintelligent, incapable of handling her judicial duties effectively, or a racist bigot.

The language that she first spoke at home was Spanish, she learned English as a second language, and she grew up as the daughter of a widow in a low-income urban environment, so it is not particularly surprising that she had an average LSAT score. She worked hard enough in high school, though, to get into Princeton; she worked hard enough there to earn that school's top academic award when she graduated; and she worked hard enough in law school to make the Yale Law Journal. Someone who compiles that consistently strong an academic record does not do so by being unintelligent, having a substandard work ethic, or waiting for things to be handed to her on a silver platter based on ethnicity.

As a lawyer, she prosecuted homicides for the Manhattan DA's Office, one of the premier criminal prosecution agencies in the country, where many of the ADAs have stronger credentials than AUSAs in many U.S. Attorneys' Offices in other parts of the country (and stronger credentials than many associates in BigLaw firms, for that matter). She then went on to private practice with a corporate firm in New York, representing clients such as Ferrari who had the business and money to choose any counsel they wanted, and chose her. While in practice, she also undertook public service obligations, including serving on the board of New York State's mortgage finance agency.

In other words, during her legal career she compiled experience as a criminal prosecutor, corporate lawyer and civil public official.

Her reputation as an attorney was such that, in New York, which is one of the most competitive legal markets in the country, she drew the sort of attention that led to her nomination, and Senate confirmation of her appointment, to the U.S. District Court (SDNY), a court known for handling some of the most complex and challenging criminal prosecutions and civil litigation in the country.

She compiled a sufficiently strong record as a district judge to receive a further nomination, and Senate confirmation of her appointment, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The record of decisions that she compiled there generally reflected thoroughness of analysis, and did not reveal any particular partisan or ideological bias.

Between the SDNY and the Second Circuit, she has seventeen years' experience as a federal trial and appellate judge. Combined with her prior experience as a criminal prosecutor, corporate attorney and public official, that gives her some of the broadest professional and judicial experience of any recent Justice confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

To characterize such an accomplished and experienced attorney and jurist as either unqualified or unintelligent simply lacks credibility. One may differ either with the political perspective of the President who appointed her, or with what one chooses to believe about her own personal views, but to accuse her of being unqualified or unintelligent reveals far more about the accuser than about her. For a law student with little if any professional experience to offer such an assessment reflects considerable personal immaturity.

It is interesting that many of those posting here seem to be impressed by Justice Scalia. While clearly an intelligent jurist, and one capable of being scintillating, witty, and occasionally sarcastic, he does not appear to have been especially successful at persuading other Justices with differing viewpoints to see things his way -- which is a fundamental criterion for distinguishing between a merely average Justice and a great one.

It remains to be seen what qualities Justice Sotomayor will display during her future service on the Court. There appears top be little if any basis, however, for assuming that she will be incapable, biased or ineffective. She has compiled a record as a federal trial and appellate judge that is deserving of any attorney's respect, and she is one of the relatively small number of people in our country's history who has been confirmed to a position on our country's highest court. If you think that is something deserving only of derision, then you still have a good deal of maturing to do before you can be considered an adult.