Judgment Day

“Justice O'Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases. I am not so sure Justice O'Connor is the author of that line since Professor Resnik attributes that line to Supreme Court Justice Coyle. I am also not so sure that I agree with the statement. First, as Professor Martha Minnow has noted, there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life.” – SSotomayor, 2001

Senators, please ask the judge the following:

1. How many children do you have? Please explain how raising your children have increased the richness of your experience as a Latina. Does a woman with children incur experiences that are not available to a woman without children?

2. Do you have any experience in the private sector? Where people work and compete and try to survive? Please tell us a bit about how these activities have supplemented the richness of your experience as a Latina. Will this experience be beneficial to you in your judicial decision making?

3. Tell us about the issues related to meeting the payroll in your private sector experience and making your products and services competitive with others in the marketplace. Please tell us about your use of advancing people who are less qualified than others and how this activity has, more often than not, improved the competitiveness of your business or improved your judicial decision making. Do you support ignoring the results of bar examinations in licensing attorneys?

4. Balancing the family budget, acquiring health insurance for your children and family, setting aside funds for their education and college costs. All these must be part of the richness of your experience as a Latina. Please talk to us about some of these experiences and relate them to your judicial decision making and your great wisdom.

5. Talk a bit about your marriage and the valuable lessons you have learned in relating to your husband and his family and how this has added, more often than not, to the fullness of your Latina experience. Do you have any mirrors in your home?

6. Is it important that people know that they will be able to be promoted even if they do not test well but they can show that they are part of a group that should be promoted? Doesn’t this knowledge mean that people will, more often than not, do better in their jobs and that this knowledge will improve their self esteem which will make them better doctors and engineers?

7. It would seem to us that the importance of this self esteem issue can and should be extended as broadly as possible. Do you agree? Further, should we not immediately extend this increased self esteem and equal distribution to as many employment opportunities and professions as possible? For example, can we use the logic of promotion without regard to testing results to areas such as surgeons, airline pilots, nurses and nuclear engineers?

8. We are sure you have travelled extensively and this traveling has added to the richness of your experience as a Latina. Please talk to us about specific countries where affirmative action, promotion based on non testing results, local laws and just being a Latina have, more often than not, produced much better societal, cultural and economic benefits for the people of those countries?

9. Most of us on this senate panel are white males. Do you see us as a group, oh great wise one? Do you attribute group prejudices to us? If not and if you see us as individuals please describe at least one instance or example for each of us where your additional wisdom has, more often than not, produced a better conclusion that what we have reached. This is quite the softball.

10. Last, thank you for sharing yourself so generously and without any guile. Can you tell us about the many people who have benefited by the richness of you just being you and, perhaps, give us four or five examples of the many people who are indebted to your generosity and unselfishness and, particularly, your self- proclaimed wisdom.

Thank you.