Conservative Hispanic On Sotomayor
by Dr. Tony Magana
The Republican party self handicapped their ability to contest the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor.
The nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama comes as no surprise to the Hispanic community. Frankly if he had failed to nominate a Hispanic to this opening the moderate dissatisfaction that had been brewing in the Latino community following the paucity of Cabinet appointments would have grown significantly.
No one can argue that the Judge’s record of achievement is equal or exceeds that of any current sitting Supreme Court justice. Coming from a poor background in New York City she was able to graduate from Princeton with honors and then serve as editor for the Law Review at Yale. Her career as a tough New York City prosecutor and private practice attorney litigating intellectual property rights before she became a judge is not typical for a standard liberal.
She was initially appointed to the lower Federal bench by President George H. Bush, however her appointment to the Circuit Court of Appeals was made by President Clinton and was challenged by some Republicans.
Supreme Court appointments are always opportunities for the party out of power to rally and unify. This is a part of the American way of politics. However the Republican party is well advised to tread carefully in the examination of Judge Sotomayor.
The Republican party was significantly damaged in the last election cycle by the voluminous anti-Hispanic rhetoric coming from members like Congressmen Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter that resulted in major swing of Hispanic voters away from the Republican party to the Democratic party. The growing demographics of America indicate that the Hispanic vote will likely continue to be a potential deciding factor in future elections where the margins are only a few percentage points.
Just recently the Republican party had a chance to begin to vindicate itself by giving former Florida Speaker of the House, Marco Rubio, a Miami born Cuban American, legitimate recognition to run in the Florida primary for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Mel Martinez. The charismatic Reaganesque conservative is much more in line with the party base while at the same time in touch with the Hispanic community then the somewhat liberal governor Charlie Crist. The Republican leaders of the Senate decided to quickly endorse Charlie Crist without so much as a giving Rubio any respect.
If one were to compare the political views of Charlie Crist and Judge Sotomayor there would probably be little difference. Had the Republican party recognized and supported Marco Rubio then they would be on much stronger ground to possibly oppose the nomination of Judge Sotomayor. Now they have put themselves in a no win situation.
Presidents and political parties are not always correct at assuming how the future decisions of a judge will go. Clearly Judge Sotomayor has shown some strong law and order decisions, protection of religious freedom and expression, and a hint that government can limit at least the discussion of abortion. On the other hand she has made some controversial statements about the rule of judges in “setting policy” and also appears to not have an ethic neutral approach to the law.
The Senate will rightly need to inquiry into these two areas of concern, however, barring a unforeseen statement of belief beyond that normally accepted by the majority of contemporary jurists I suspect she will be confirmed appropriately.
Thanks for reading Contempo Magazine blog which discusses issues for McAllen, the Rio Grande Valley, and America from a conservative Hispanic point of view. Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, served as an officer in Army Reserve, and holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years. He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and also writes for the American Daily Review. Follow him on twitter http://twitter.com/contempomagazin
