A Bird's Eye View
columnist: Raven West, J.D.

Topic: Politics
Sotomayor - Ricci Decision Was Legally Sound

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Judge Sotomayor followed the legal yellow brick road all the way to the Supreme Court

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by Raven West, J.D.
(libertarian)
Sunday, July 12, 2009

Law school teaches prospective attorneys how to analyze scenarios and apply case precedent, if any exists, to support their conclusion. In fact there is an acronyms for this process; I.R.A.C., which means, after outlining the facts of an argument, finding the legal Issue being argued, what is the Rule of law which applies to the case, and how to Analyze the Issue using the law to come to a Conclusion.

It's in the analysis part of this process wherein personal bias might be a factor. However no matter what an individual's personal feelings are regarding a case, once they put on that black robe, a Judge must use this formula in order to make a ruling. If their ruling can be found in error, the losing side has the ability to overturn that ruling on appeal, in the matter of the Rule of Law, not on any of the facts.

Which is exactly what Sotomayor did when she ruled on the Ricci case.
"... because the Board, in refusing to validate the exams, was simply trying to fulfill its obligations under Title VII when confronted with test results that had a disproportionate racial impact, its actions were protected."

Now, it may be possible for a judge to be pre-disposed to a certain view of the law and spend countless hours researching arguments in support of their bias, however it is highly unlikely that their opinion would carry much weight given that there are nine judges on the Supreme Court who more than likely will take a different approach.

Here is where the requirement of empathy really doesn't come into play. Most individuals have no idea how a case comes before the Supreme Court or what cases are barred. (What is the U.S. Supreme Court?)

Members of the confirmation hearing on both parties can agree that Judge Sotomayor's judicial career is exemplary. The fact that she is a woman from the Bronx, (growing up in the 50's where there was a large Jewish population), she's of Puerto Rican descent, means she brings to the court a diversity all on her own.

There is no doubt that Sotomayor will do the job she was trained to do from her first year at law school. She will read the facts of the case, find the Issue, apply the Rule of Law and come to a conclusion. And she will be confirmed as the 111^th Justice of the Supreme Court.

As long as she's not required to take a written civil service exam.

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©2009 Raven West, J.D., all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Sunday, July 12, 2009
Last modified: Sunday, July 12, 2009

The views expressed in this article are those of Raven West, J.D. only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Raven West, J.D. is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

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