Is Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor racist?

June 3, 1:15 AMBaltimore Republican ExaminerSean O'Donnell

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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.

These were the words spoken by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor in 2001 during a speech in Berkeley, California. The speech, as well as other issues, has prompted some people to wonder if Sonia Sotomayor is racist.

Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), former Speaker of the House, opined on her past speech saying, “Imagine [if] a judicial nominee said ‘my experience as a white man makes me better than a [L]atina woman.’ Wouldn’t they have to withdraw? New racism is no better than old racism. A white man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. [A] Latina woman racist should also withdraw.”

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) of the Senate Judiciary Committee disagreed with Rep. Gingrich’s notion that Sotomayor is a racist; “I don’t think that’s an accurate description of her.”

When Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) of the Senate Judiciary Committee was asked by Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer if he thinks Sotomayor is a racist, Sen. Kyl responded, “I’m not going to get drawn into characterizations before I’ve even met her.”

New York Times columnist David Brooks was also a recent guest on Face the Nation where he discussed his research on SCOTUSblog pertaining to Sotomayor. He found that of the roughly 100 cases involving alleged racial discrimination that Sotomayor oversaw during her judicial career, “in about 80 or 90% she denied the claim of racial discrimination. Which says to me… she’s not hyper-racial, she’s not driven by identity politics.”

However, when firefighter Frank Ricci – the lead plaintiff in Ricci v. DeStefano – claimed racial discrimination by being denied a promotion and appealed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals (after losing in the federal district court), Judge Sotomayor denied his claim. The Washington Post wrote that Sotomayor’s decision “was devoid of legal reasoning for affirming the decision of a lower district judge, a curious dismissal for a case that represents significant questions of law and the Constitution.”

Washington Examiner columnist Gregory Kane called Sotomayor a "white-male basher" because "of a recent trend to bash white males at every opportunity."

When Sotomayor served as a judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, she was a member of National Council of La Raza – the largest national Latino advocacy and civil rights group in the country. NCLR has been criticized for advocating separatist views and has been accused of encouraging illegal immigration. Former Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) has described NCLR as “a Latino KKK without the hoods or nooses.”

Because of her words and actions on the bench, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) wonders about “her ability to rule fairly without undue influence from her own personal race, gender, or political preference.”

With these facts taken into account, can Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor be called a racist?

For more information: Read the opinions of Marylanders about Sotomayor at the Baltimore Sun's talk forum .  Also, see the video and headlines below.

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