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Posted on 05/26/2009 9:40:55 AM PDT by VirginiaConstitutionalist
Libertarians blast Sotomayor pick
Obama Court nominee ruled government should discriminate based on race
WASHINGTON -- America’s third largest party Tuesday criticized President Barack Obama’s nomination of federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, citing past rulings that public employers should discriminate in hiring based on race.
“While Judge Sotomayor deserves a fair and impartial hearing, Supreme Court justices should be nominated for their thorough knowledge of and adherence to the Constitution and the rule of law,” said William Redpath, Libertarian National Committee Chairman.
“By nominating Sonia Sotomayor, Barack Obama has made it clear he prefers an activist for his personal causes over a rational interpreter of law,” said Redpath.
According to Cato Institute Vice President for Legal Affairs Roger Pilon, Sotomayor is “the most radical of all the frequently mentioned candidates before him.”
Sotomayor is best known for the Ricci v. DeStafano case, in which the New Haven, Conn. fire department decided it didn’t like the results of an officers promotion exam in which whites and Hispanic firefighters outperformed black firefighters. The city threw out the results of the exam, denying several firefighters promotions solely because of their race. The firefighters sued the city, claiming racial discrimination under Title VVI of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Cato Institute, Reason Foundation and the Individual Rights Foundations filed briefs on behalf of the firefighters, citing the absurdity of allowing public employers to throw out the results of valid, race-neutral exams that produce racial disparity because the racial disparity produced wasn’t politically correct. The firefighters and the libertarian foundations filing briefs argued that public employment practices should be color-blind.
Sotomayor disagreed, ruling the city has a right to discriminate against white and Hispanic public employees to construct a politically correct racial mix in hiring, even if it goes against the results of a racially-neutral competency exam.
The case is now before the Supreme Court. Sotomayor has had her rulings thrown out by the court a troubling four times. In three of those cases, the Court ruled Sotomayor had incorrectly interpreted the law.
“It is troubling that Obama, who won the highest elected office in the world without racial preferences, would nominate someone who openly admits the government should racially discriminate against its own citizens to serve the needs of political correctness,” said Redpath.
“Libertarians believe that, while the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of association allows private parties to hire whomever they please, government has no right to discriminate. Public employers should treat all citizens of all colors, races and ethnicities with equal respect and value and Sotomayor’s radical rulings are a jarring departure from that principle.”
For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Libertarian Party, please call Director of Communications Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 or 202-333-0008, x. 225, or email Donny.Ferguson@lp.org.
The Libertarian Party is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting http://www.LP.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.
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She and Obama seem to agree with a lot of liberatian positions though, so it is a mixed bag for the Libertarians.
Libertarian Party Platform:
Throw open the borders completely; only a rare individual (terrorist, disease carrier etc.) can be kept from freedom of movement through “political borders”.
Homosexuals; total freedom in the military, gay marriage, adoption, child custody and everything else.
Abortion; zero restrictions or impediments.
Pornography; no restraint, no restrictions.
Drugs; Meth, Heroin, Crack, anything new that science can come up with, zero restrictions.
Advertising drugs, prostitution, pornography; zero restrictions.
Military Strength; minimal capabilities.
I thought Obama won precisely BECAUSE he is black....not despite being black.
WOW...what a concept! Too bad you don't hear many republicans state this fact (other than Rep. Ron Paul, I guess).
Government is bound to “Title VVI of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Libertarians believe that private people shouldn’t be bound to these since they must pay the penalty for whomever they hire. If I choose to not serve women in my restaurant, I’ll lose business and suffer economic consequences for that decision. If I choose to not hire any black people on my basketball team, generally the team I make would most likely suffer in terms of winning due to that decision. Governments typically don’t face the same market forces; they can discriminate as they please unless bound by law.
I would say that the Libertarians are the larger of the 2.
I agree. We could've gotten much worse. This is not the battle to risk everything for.
This might all be a set-up. The False Messiah knows this lady is a moron and a disgrace to the bench and can be (with enough opposition) defeated, he can then use her defeat to bludgeon Republicans with being both anti-Hispanic and anti-female, and then he’ll put up his true choice for the bench who will be even more dangerous.
Very true. How very little is known of the real positions of the Libertarian Party.
My good Senator Jeff Sessions, the most conservative in the land, who fought the good fight against Amnesty, already telegraphed the above to you when he said that he wouldn't vote against a candidate based solely on her being a lesbian.
Why?
Because Sotomayor is not as liberal as 0bama's other potential choices.
Defeat her in the Senate and 0bama will stick us with someone much worse.
Libertarians blast Sotomayor pick.
Should read:
Libertarians tippy-toe out of the middle of the road to blast Sotomayor pick, then tippy-toe back.
I see. The Libertarian party supports the Civil Rights Act.
So how about those parts of it that limit individual rights to discriminate?
As the National Committee Chairman of America's Independent Party, the third largest party in America based on voter registration, I concur heartily in this statement from my Libertarian counterpart.
They just say he is black, He is half white, 44% ARAB and 6% black.
“She also has diabetes, so she won’t outlive Ginsburg.”
My MIL has diabetes; she is 83.
My grandmother had diabetes; she lived to 95.
If you go by number of candidates on the ballot every election, the Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in the U.S. If you go by number of registered party members, the Constitution Party is the third largest party in the U.S. If you go by total number of votes received every election, the Green Party is the third largest political party in the U.S. ...
Oh PLEASE! She will be in for sure!! She’s a DEMOCRAT WOMEN who looks like Hugo Chavez!
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