In a rare happening, a Supreme Court Nominee receives advance praise and welcome from sitting Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. This a high compliment coming from the only woman currently on the court and one of the four remaining Justices we can count on to uphold the ruling to legalize abortion, Roe v. Wade. And, it should be noted that Ginsberg has mentioned more than once the importance of women justices on the court because they bring a perspective very different from male justices. Yet, still airing on the side of caution, we cannot logically deduce any of Sonia Sotomayor’s legal opinions on the right to privacy or on the legality of a woman’s right to choose from this casual endorsement. Bummer. 

In other news, with the Supreme Court nomination hearings due to start July 14, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says a filibuster is still an option on the table. With Al Franken’s race for Senate still held up in ballot recounts, the Democratic Senate is one senator shy of the 60 votes needed to block a filibuster. The Republican Party strategy for Sotomayor seems to be to postpone the approval of her nomination for as long as possible. At the very latest, we will need a replacement for Justice Souter’s seat by October when he will officially leave his post and the new annual session begins. Presumably, the GOP aims to stall while searching for more, or any, evidence against her that she is pro-choice, pro-gay, or just generally “empathetic” towards people she does not know. 

What is the latest outrage by the GOP against Sotomayor? Calling her a racist wasn’t good enough? Just as President Obama was degraded by republicans for being a political organizer, Sotomayor may now be raked over the coals for being an advocate of affirmative action. In 1994, Sotomayor is quoted promoting affirmative action, saying, “I am a product of affirmative action… I am the perfect affirmative action baby.” She also later acknowledges that she has also benefited from having her test scores overlooked, and admits that before attending Princeton and Yale, she probably did not have the highest score compared to all the applicants. With all the praise Sotomayor receives from respected members of today’s legal and scholarly communities, it cannot be said Sotomayor did not have the potential to become the accomplished doctor of jurisprudence she is today. And it makes one wonder: without an admissions committee slightly overlooking her scores, would Sotomayor have had the opportunity to be the first Latina, and third woman nominated to the Supreme Court?   

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