Sonia Sotomayor made history Thursday.
Hispanic Americans, the nation’s largest and fastest-growing minority, finally have one of their own on the U.S. Supreme Court. Sotomayor is their Thurgood Marshall, their Sandra Day O’Connor – proof that the highest court of the land is not off limits.
But behind the barrier-shattering nature of Sotomayor’s confirmation by the U.S. Senate, there is the 68-31 vote that elevated her to the august bench.
Sotomayor – the daughter of Puerto Rican parents, product of the Bronx projects, Ivy Leaguer, respected lawyer and jurist – is also the third justice in a row to be confirmed with opposition from at least half of the minority party’s members.
That trifecta is a first. The trend portends a sustained threat to the Senate’s tradition of deference to the president’s nominations.
Elections have consequences. One of those, when it comes to who occupies the White House, is the power to seat Supreme Court justices for life. The president’s picks – provided they possess the caliber of intellect and range of experience required for the high court – deserve the Senate’s approval.
To be fair, the Republicans didn’t start this trend. The Democrats did with their opposition to George W. Bush nominees John Roberts and Samuel Alito.
And President Obama has little room to complain about any treatment his nominees receive. In 2005, the then-senator said there was “absolutely no doubt in my mind Judge Roberts is qualified to sit on the highest court in the land.” But Obama voted against the chief justice because “he has far more often used his formidable skills on behalf of the strong in opposition to the weak” in his work as a lawyer.
This isn’t about a partisan score. It’s about shielding the federal judiciary from ideological litmus tests and partisan politics.
Certainly, presidents size up candidates’ political and judicial philosophy in making their picks. The founders didn’t create a judiciary that is entirely divorced from politics, but it’s in the interest of justice to buffer the bench from political tugs-of-war.
Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio – the last of nine Republicans to announce they would vote in favor of Sotomayor’s confirmation – said Thursday: “Judge Sotomayor is not the nominee I would have selected if I were president, but making a nomination is not my role here today. My role is to examine her qualifications to determine if she is fit to serve.”
By that measure, Sotomayor is well-deserving of her historic confirmation.
