Constitutions were in focus this week from the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor as Obama’s pick to replace Supreme Court Justice David Souter, to the California Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a ban on gay marriage, to Congress revisiting the second amendment by making it legal to carry concealed weapons inside national parks (starting in February).
The California ruling upholds a recent state vote to define marriage between a man and a woman, saying the proposition that voters approved with a 52% majority in November allowed for exceptions to the state constitutional rights. Already a team of attorneys is appealing to the U.S. Federal Court and says they could take it ultimately to the Supreme Court. The Court did uphold the 18,000 marriages between same-sex couples that took place between May and November.
On to Sotomayor
Of course the main focus this week was on the U.S. Constitution and how the new nominee will interpret the law. Is she too liberal? Is she not liberal enough? The claws came out on both sides and will continue to be bared through the confirmation hearings.
But a few things struck us this week while reading about Sotomayor—first her journey from the projects in the Bronx to Supreme Court nominee and second that if confirmed, she would be only the third female justice to serve out of the 110 since the court was formed.
Beyond that it was a simple quote that caught our eye, and her lean experience on the abortion rights issue, one of the cultural hot-buttons of the last 30 years that is certain to face the courts in years to come.
First, the simple quote
When nominated to the Manhattan District Court in 1992, Sotomayor told the New York Times, “I’m not going to be able to spend much time on lofty ideals. The cases that shake the world don’t come along every day. But the world of the litigants is shaken by the existence of their case, and I don’t lose sight of that, either.”
As she potentially moves from a court that heard thousands of cases a year—the Federal Appeals Courts (she was on the Second) heard a combined 61,104 cases last year—to one that hears about 100 a year, she may have time for more lofty ideals. But it’s the sentiment of her quote above—empathy for people—that Obama has said he hopes she will bring to the court. Conservatives responded saying empathy is just another word for activist.
Issues in focus
The confirmation will certainly be interesting. Since Sotomayor has not had to make many decisions on abortion there will be some pressing to hear more about her stance as recent decisions around the issue have divided the court 5-4. Abortion rights groups are pushing lawmakers to ask these questions.
The big picture
While the nuances of Constitutional interpretation seem almost too large to wrap one’s brain around, it’s the realities of life that the interpretations of the law are applied to that matter—like if after becoming pregnant a woman can choose to have an abortion or not, or if a girl can marry a girl or a boy can marry a boy. It’s these everyday realities that suddenly become very large when they go before the highest court in the land. And it’s the judicial decisions around these realities that end up shaking lives.
The California ruling upholds a recent state vote to define marriage between a man and a woman, saying the proposition that voters approved with a 52% majority in November allowed for exceptions to the state constitutional rights. Already a team of attorneys is appealing to the U.S. Federal Court and says they could take it ultimately to the Supreme Court. The Court did uphold the 18,000 marriages between same-sex couples that took place between May and November.
On to Sotomayor
Of course the main focus this week was on the U.S. Constitution and how the new nominee will interpret the law. Is she too liberal? Is she not liberal enough? The claws came out on both sides and will continue to be bared through the confirmation hearings.
But a few things struck us this week while reading about Sotomayor—first her journey from the projects in the Bronx to Supreme Court nominee and second that if confirmed, she would be only the third female justice to serve out of the 110 since the court was formed.
Beyond that it was a simple quote that caught our eye, and her lean experience on the abortion rights issue, one of the cultural hot-buttons of the last 30 years that is certain to face the courts in years to come.
First, the simple quote
When nominated to the Manhattan District Court in 1992, Sotomayor told the New York Times, “I’m not going to be able to spend much time on lofty ideals. The cases that shake the world don’t come along every day. But the world of the litigants is shaken by the existence of their case, and I don’t lose sight of that, either.”
As she potentially moves from a court that heard thousands of cases a year—the Federal Appeals Courts (she was on the Second) heard a combined 61,104 cases last year—to one that hears about 100 a year, she may have time for more lofty ideals. But it’s the sentiment of her quote above—empathy for people—that Obama has said he hopes she will bring to the court. Conservatives responded saying empathy is just another word for activist.
Issues in focus
The confirmation will certainly be interesting. Since Sotomayor has not had to make many decisions on abortion there will be some pressing to hear more about her stance as recent decisions around the issue have divided the court 5-4. Abortion rights groups are pushing lawmakers to ask these questions.
The big picture
While the nuances of Constitutional interpretation seem almost too large to wrap one’s brain around, it’s the realities of life that the interpretations of the law are applied to that matter—like if after becoming pregnant a woman can choose to have an abortion or not, or if a girl can marry a girl or a boy can marry a boy. It’s these everyday realities that suddenly become very large when they go before the highest court in the land. And it’s the judicial decisions around these realities that end up shaking lives.
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