In Sotomayor Hearings, Republicans Are On Trial

Shortly after the Judge Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings began Monday, Sen. Jeff Sessions let it be known that he and other Republicans intend to play hardball.

And in the Latino community, where almost everyone enjoys a good ballgame, many people began to look for fouls.

If the Republicans play hard but fair, as the opposition party, they will be within their rights. But if their passion for extreme right-wing ideals leads to comments that could be considered racist or if Sotomayor's experience as a Latina becomes an issue, boy are they in trouble!

Sessions wasted no time demonstrating classic GOP insensitivity toward minorities. He said that the importance being placed on Sotomayor's personal background is "shocking and offensive" to him.

What an interesting choice of words! That's exactly how many Latinos may feel after Sessions and some of his Republican colleagues get done with Sotomayor.

Let's face it. In the Latino community, Republicans, not Sotomayor, are on trial. Of course, there are exceptions. I get letters from some extreme-right Latinos who make Sessions seem moderate. But they are a minute minority of extremely neurotic individuals.

Most Latinos feel an immense sense of pride because of Sotomayor's nomination, and they will feel immensely offended if the first Hispanic Supreme Court nominee is mistreated in any way, especially if it is perceived as prejudice based on her ethnicity.

When they question Sotomayor, a Puerto Rican from the Bronx, N.Y., Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee will be playing with their party's political future. If they represent states with few Latino voters, perhaps they feel they can afford to be arrogant. But surely, in areas where Latino voters make a difference, they will be hurting their fellow Republicans.

Even before Sotomayor got a chance to speak Monday, Sessions led the Republican offensive by immediately challenging Sotomayor's 2001 comment on how a "wise Latina" might make a better decision than a white man.

"I will not vote for — and no senator should vote for — an individual nominated by any president who believes it is acceptable for a judge to allow their own personal background, gender, prejudices or sympathies to sway their decision," Sessions charged.

While Sessions and other Republicans tried to portray Sotomayor as an activist judge — and while they pretended to be the champions of an impartial judiciary — it was Sen.

"These calls for restraint and modesty and complaints about activist judges are often code words seeking a particular kind of judge who will deliver a particular set of political outcomes," Whitehouse said.

He is right. But it applies to both sides. It's always amazing how both Democrats and Republicans try to fool the American people into believing that Supreme Court nominations have nothing to do with party politics. Whether they are Democrats or Republicans, they want us to believe that their appointees practice "judicial restraints" and that the other side appoints activists.

This time, it is the Republicans' turn to do it. And Whitehouse rightfully called them on it. "For all the talk of modesty and restraint, the right-wing justices of the court have a striking record of ignoring precedent, overturning congressional statutes, limiting constitutional protections and discovering new constitutional rights," Whitehouse charged.

When it was finally Sotomayor's turn to speak, she made it perfectly clear that her experiences as a Latina will only help to inform her decisions. "The task of a judge is not to make law," she said. "It is to apply the law."

She explained that during her 17 years on the bench, she has witnessed the human consequences of her decisions. "Those decisions have not been made to serve the interests of any one litigant, but always to serve the larger interest of impartial justice," Sotomayor said. "My personal and professional experiences help me listen and understand, with the law always commanding the result in every case," she added.

In the next few days, right before our eyes, Republican senators are likely to turn into bullies as they keep drilling Sotomayor over issues related to her Latina experience. Perhaps they will be appealing to bigots and xenophobes, or perhaps they just can't hide their own anti-Hispanic prejudices. But in the hardball game that began in the U.S. Senate Monday, although Republicans came out swinging the bats, Latinos saw them striking out.

To find out more about Miguel Perez and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS.COM