05.28.09
“The Development of the Law”
I just listened to the whole of Sonia Sotomayor’s now-famous remarks at Duke Law School in 2005 and can reliably inform you that they are not taken out of context.
First, I must say that this video (at the link above) is my first extended acquaintance with Sotomayor of any kind. I find her to be suitably cerebral, although she protests too much that she is less engaged than her colleagues, even if more intellectually sloppy.
Second, the soundbite that Big Media took from her complete answer is quite fair. She was comparing and contrasting the roles of district and circuit courts when she committed her Kinsleyan gaffe: she blurted out the truth. But she does elaborate. And she does see her job as policy-making or “developing the law,” as she puts it. Is that a necessary evil of the higher courts? Probably, although sound law is its own arbiter. But there’s no question that she relishes the opportunity to make her justiceship a vehicle for “social progress,” either.
Third, it will take a whole hell of a lot more than remarks like these to stay her from her appointment, so back to the drawing boards, you fading patriarchical oppressors! That whitey tape’s gotta be out there somewhere!
