BREAKING: MSNBC reports Sotomayor next SCOTUS justice

[Nym90]

I'm still trying to dig up Jmfcst's thread about how Bush should choose Alberto Gonzales for the Court because it would be political suicide for Dems to oppose the first Hispanic nominee. I think it might have been on the old Forum (it was at a time when there wasn't a vacancy). In any event, will be interesting to see if he feels likewise with Sotomayor and the GOP.

[Nym90]

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I wish.

I assume when they mean "could" they are referring to the future possibility of one of the conservative justices dying (I doubt any of the 5 will retire under an Obama presidency). Were there any cases in which Souter was actually the swing vote and to the right of Kennedy? Would be interesting to dig up some.

[Nym90]

I'm still trying to dig up Jmfcst's thread about how Bush should choose Alberto Gonzales for the Court because it would be political suicide for Dems to oppose the first Hispanic nominee. I think it might have been on the old Forum (it was at a time when there wasn't a vacancy). In any event, will be interesting to see if he feels likewise with Sotomayor and the GOP.

I think that would have been Estrada

Ah yes, ok, that's right. Thanks. My memory is failing me in my old age. Though I guess the fact that I still remember random threads from about 7 years ago ain't too shabby to begin with.

[Nym90]

The firefighters case is probably going to be overturned because of Kennedy, I suspect.  So her inclusion on the court would be irrelevant in that matter.

Still trying to figure out what race has to do with any of this.  She's qualified to be an SC justice.  I've already given my opinion as to what her impact will be.  That I feel fairly confident about.

Erwin Chemerinsky disagrees with you on the persuasiveness and quality of writing thing: http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2009/05/26/why-sotomayor-is-such-a-good-pick.aspx

I guess we'll find out soon enough.

[Nym90]

The only thing Hispanic about Cardozo is his name.  Portuguese in case someone didn't know is a different language than Spanish.  He's not Latino either. The term is meant to describe immigrants or descendants of immigrants from Latin America, not European countries like Portugal

Hispanic is a made up race anyway, a complete creation of the US Census Bureau.

Except for the fact that it's not considered a race by the Census Bureau.

I agree that it shouldn't really be treated any differently than any other European nationality. I think the only reason it is really is because most Hispanics are relatively recent immigrants and thus less assimilated (100 years ago there was just as much "racism" against Italians or Irish or Scandanavians or any other "minority" from Europe), and because there's so many more of them due to Spain's colonization of nearly all of Central and South America.

[Nym90]

The firefighters case is probably going to be overturned because of Kennedy, I suspect.  So her inclusion on the court would be irrelevant in that matter.

Still trying to figure out what race has to do with any of this.  She's qualified to be an SC justice.  I've already given my opinion as to what her impact will be.  That I feel fairly confident about.

Erwin Chemerinsky disagrees with you on the persuasiveness and quality of writing thing: http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2009/05/26/why-sotomayor-is-such-a-good-pick.aspx

I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Chemerinsky writes a good Con Law hornbook information-wise, but quite frankly I found his writing style to be boring and academic.

If I am so picky about this area, it is because I consider legal persuasiveness to be one of the strong points in my legal writing. (and am not the only one). 

Well, perhaps in 25 years you will be chosen for the Court, Sam.

[Nym90]

This might have been discussed already, but the only thing (other than the affirmative action elements to Obama's stated criteria in choosing a nominee, although Sotomayor certainly seems well qualified, so I'm not as concerned at this point) that concerns me is her opinion in Ricci v. DeStefano.  Does anyone have any insights on this?  I haven't seen much analysis of this decision, perhaps since the case is still pending before the Supreme Court.

I posted a good analysis of it in the "Is Sotomayor a centrist?" thread. It's worth noting that her decision did uphold precedent.