Judicial Temperament: another non-starter attack on Judge Sotomayor

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

One of the laugh out loud attacks on Judge Sonia Sotomayor from the right is examined in today's New York Times. Sotomayor’s Blunt Style Raises Issue of Temperament

[T]o detractors, Judge Sotomayor’s sharp-tongued and occasionally combative manner — some lawyers have described her as “difficult” and “nasty” — raises questions about her judicial temperament and willingness to listen. Her demeanor on the bench is an issue that conservatives opposed to her nomination see as a potential vulnerability…

Are you kidding me? I have war stories to tell about Judges at every level of the judiciary. There are temperamental judges and others who have quirky personalities. Sometimes you just catch a judge when he or she is having a bad day. The lawyers quoted in this article complaining about tough questioning from the bench are just being hypersensitive (which is not my first word choice).

At the appellate court level, it is to be expected that the judges will interrupt your argument with pointed questions. A lawyer anticipates this and should welcome the exchange — it may reveal the issues that the court is interested in hearing to decide the case, which may not be the issues that your argument intended to focus on. Know the facts of your case and the applicable law, and be quick thinking on your feet.

If you want to hear "combative," "difficult" and "nasty" there are some audio recordings of Justice Antonin Scalia during U. S. Supreme Court oral arguments that I highly recommend you give a listen.

As the article notes, "Those skills, some observers say, could make her an able politician on the Supreme Court and allow her to serve as an intellectual counterweight to Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative who is known for his acerbic questioning."

This is the difference in perceptions between men and women. When a man is "assertive" he is just being aggressive and tough – considered admirable traits in a man. But when a woman is "assertive," well now, she's just being bitchy. It is much tougher for women in the law because of these cultural perceptions and biases.

Judge Guido Calabresi, a former dean of Yale Law School who taught Ms. Sotomayor there and now sits with her on the Second Circuit, said complaints that she had been unduly caustic had no basis. For a time, Judge Calabresi said, he kept track of the questions posed by Judge Sotomayor and other members of the 12-member court. “Her behavior was identical,” he said.

“Some lawyers just don’t like to be questioned by a woman,” Judge Calabresi added. “It was sexist, plain and simple.”

To supporters, she is known as a formidably intelligent judge with a prodigious memory who meticulously prepares for oral arguments and is not shy about grilling the lawyers who appear before her to ensure that she fully understands their arguments.

Other colleagues said Judge Sotomayor frequently sent unusually detailed, closely reasoned and helpful memorandums critiquing their draft opinions. “She will offer substantive suggestions,” said Judge Jon O. Newman, “but she will not be tenacious in making sure the language comes out exactly her way.”

Judge Richard C. Wesley, another colleague, agreed. He said his interactions with Judge Sotomayor had been “totally antithetical to this perception that has gotten some traction that she is somehow confrontational.”

Sounds like an endorsement from her colleagues on the bench to me.