Do nine men interpret? Nine men, I nod.

Obama Picks Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court

Great news! She's qualified and she brings a new voice that reflects America to the Court.

Now countdown to repulicant hysteria. 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...
Media Matters has the quotes and the video:

In 2005, many Republican Senators went so far as to claim the filibuster of judicial nominees was unconstitutional. Now four years later, with President Obama's first Supreme Court appointment looming, will they remain consistent in their position or commit one of the most blatant acts of hypocrisy in the 220-year history of the United States Senate?

Simple answers to simple questions.

Of course they will.

BTW, there's a term for people who lack empathy, they're called psychopaths.

Should judges use their empathy, (assuming they have it), when deciding cases?

Of course. Not to ignore the law but to apply the law as "Justice tempered with mercy."

INAL, but I think 'intent' is one of the code words they use for such rulings. If the intent of a person flooded out for days with no rescue in sight, (e.g NOLA/Katrina), was to feed their family by breaking into an abandoned store one would hope that the JustUs system would have some empathy. If the said person's intent was to break into a bank for money, the empathy is still there, but probably not in the defendant's favor.

The law should not be black and white because people aren't and the real world isn't. And this is recognized in our adversarial system.

Jury/judge decide not just guilt but what measure of guilt. The prosecution generally levy the most charges possible and paint the defendant in the worst light. The defense generally try to show mitigation of the offenses, and occasionally actual innocence. That includes death row.

Obviously empathy occurs in the real world of American JustUs, because rich old white men judges go easier on rich old white men, out of empathy. (e.g. Enron execs, Maddow & Co., while white collar crimes ruin more lives than the mugger down the street. Yet who gets max time in prison and who gets a slap on the wrist in Club Fed?)

Judge Sotomayor was originally appointed by George Bush I.

The system sucks but I don't know a better one. It sure as heck won't be the end of the world if the US's first Hispanic member of the Supreme Court is also a woman and gets 1 out of nine votes, and an opinion to help decide law in the final chance we have in the JustUs system.

Hey, as the repulicants said:All of the president's nominees-both now and in the future-deserve a fair up or down vote



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak