Sessions Greets Sotomayor With "Wise Latina" Comment

WASHINGTON — The top-ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee has greeted Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor with skepticism.

Sen. Jeff Sessions on Monday cited Sotomayor's much-publicized remarks about the notion that a "wise Latina" woman might be better suited than a white male without the same life experiences.

At the same time, the Alabama senator criticized President Barack Obama's statement that he preferred someone for the high court who has shown empathy with people. He said that "empathy for one party is always prejudice for the other."

Comments

[wpshepherd]

05:33 PM on 07/14/2009

I would hope that a wise white male with the richness of his experiences would, more often than not, reach a better conclusion than a latina woman who hasn't lived that life.

[tjinc]

01:00 PM on 07/14/2009

Empathy for one group doesn't necessarily translate to hostility toward another. Maybe it does in this man's little mind, but not in rational thinking.

[BILLHICKSPINNING]

10:51 AM on 07/14/2009

Why are the greatest champions of the white race always the worst examples?

You!Sessions! where the f@$K is your chin?!



h/t Jesse Custer.

[newjerseybadger]

10:44 AM on 07/14/2009

Alabamans:

You elected this guy. WTF were you thinking in the voting booths?

[yankees]

09:58 AM on 07/14/2009

Let her answer the question. Think of all the times she'll be asking hard questions to Lawyers in front of the Supreme court. I don't understand anyone problem with people wanting to know the background and thoughts of such an important appointment. We didn't have a problem with questions to Thomas or any right wing Judge appointed by the Republicans, did we?
Double Standard once again

[olmossy]

09:53 AM on 07/14/2009

A Southern man from La.called in and spoke about Empathy on CSPAN this AM.
He said (paraphrasing) that Sympathy is when we see a homless begger roadside and say 'AW thats too bad.'
But that Empathy is when we try to understand how this persons feels.Try to feel the desperation, hopelessness, humiliation this begger must feel.
He said that the Word Empathy frightens the Republicans so bad because They have built and are busy working in a Political World based on EXPLOITING these Poor People.They want Apathy not Empathy.

The Rebublicans are scared of the word Empathy because IF it catches on , People will start wanting Empathy. Demanding Empathy!.
And It will DESTROY Everything the Republicans have worked for. And they are fighting for their very lives.

I had never heard the issue put quite like this. And I was glad to hear a Southerner saying it.

[mdn]

09:41 AM on 07/14/2009

It is really to bad that a senator of such high ranking can be so petty and small.

[zeezan]

10:24 AM on 07/14/2009

You have to remember that Sessions was denied confirmation to the Federal bench by the very committee he is now sitting on. There's no way he can vote for a Latina when a good old Southern boy like himself was not confirmed.

[stateretiree]

08:15 AM on 07/14/2009

It is unacceptable by Republicans to use your experiences as a female or hispanic, but acceptable to use your political ideology when sitting on the Supreme Court!! Could someone please explain the difference to me!

[FutureRefugee]

03:42 AM on 07/14/2009

Evil requires the absence of empathy. So of course the GOP wants to ban empathy.

[Querent]

02:26 AM on 07/14/2009

Sessions is a self-avowed racist who still thinks the people of this nation are asleep and haven't taken his measure. As usual, he's wrong.

[LMPE]

01:20 AM on 07/14/2009

Jeff Sessions corroborates Sonia Sotomayor's comment.

[olmossy]

09:56 AM on 07/14/2009

very subtle, VERY TRUE !

[KLordsha]

01:16 AM on 07/14/2009

Someone should start a count of how many times the Repubs use this hearing to bash Prez O.

[SDindependent]

01:13 AM on 07/14/2009

So if I understand Sessions, he would like to remove the word justice from the American vocabulary and just have a legal system.................... nice for lawyers and such, not much empathy for the rest of us.

[Tommygun264]

11:03 PM on 07/13/2009

Sessions admired the KKK until he found out some of their members smoked pot. The man is a proven racist. In other words, a typical pasty, hate-filled pub.

[peacegurl48]

10:56 PM on 07/13/2009

Feingold put the comment in full context showed that Sotomayor goes to great lengths to be fair and unbiased. It is so telling that the GOP has such disdain for EMPATHY, an emotion that makes us human, their disdain certainly shows in their policies and postions.

I wonder where Sessions hides his robe and hood?

[20007Conservative]

12:47 AM on 07/14/2009

Empathy is a wonderful quality in an individual. That said, it is awful public policy and like Senator Sessions (not so eloquently) points out when you LEGISLATE empathy for one group, you inherently create a prejudice against another. I know that it's politically convenient to cast all rich folks as money-grubbing, selfish pigs, but the reality is that a tyranny of the majority disguised as empathy is no better than the opposite.

[Querent]

02:23 AM on 07/14/2009

Judges don't legislate, and those who style themselves conservatives have nothing worthwhile to say.

[ATLiberal]

09:06 AM on 07/14/2009

Tyrrany of the majority? I hardly think we are in danger of that right now. A quick look at income disparity now as compared tp 30 years ago quashes that idea.

Are you saying that white men don't have empathy for their own group? They are naturally completely neutral with no bias whatsoever?