On Monday morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin the confirmation hearing on Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
A close look at Sotomayor's judicial philosophy and her various legal opinions makes it clear to me that she is totally unsuited to serve in a lifetime position on the nation's highest court.
She has admitted that she believes judges make "policy" and thinks that Latina women like her make better judges than white males. This racialist ideology has no place on the Supreme Court.
She is also an advocate of the judicial philosophy known as Legal Realism, a dangerous strain of legal thinking that permits judges to use their personal feelings, political views and experiences in making rulings. The Constitution or the intent of the lawmaker is secondary.Judge Sotomayor also believes in using international law decisions in issuing opinions on American cases. This is a direct threat to our national sovereignty. No American judge should consult some decision by a foreign court in determining our constitutional rights. Our nation operates under the U.S. Constitution, not some other nation's constitution. A foreign judge's opinion about our laws should have no relevance at all.
Judge Sotomayor served for 12 years on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF). During this time, the legal defense fund:
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Attacked New York Mayor David Dinkins in 1990 for calling the Puerto Ricans who shot five Members of Congress in 1954 "assassins."
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Attacked the New York Police Department in 1988 over its allegedly "racist" promotion exam. The city eventually redesigned the test with the help of the legal fund so minorities could pass.
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Filed a complaint against Elizabeth, New Jersey Mayor Thomas Dunn in 1981 because he issued a directive requiring City Hall staff to speak English on the job.
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A March 1981 memo from Sotomayor argued against the death penalty because it is allegedly "associated with evident racism in our society" and because it "creates inhuman psychological burdens for the offender."
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In 1981, the defense fund applauded a federal judge ruling forcing teachers at an Ann Arbor, Michigan school to undergo "consciousness raising" about "black English."
Sotomayor was never a passive member of the board of this radical group. She was aggressively involved in promoting its agenda - which included defending abortion on demand!
She is better suited as an activist for her leftist Puerto Rican legal group than as a Supreme Court Justice. The Senate must reject her nomination.
