Valueless ABA Ratings

IBD Editorials ^ | July 7, 2009

[Kaslin]

Supreme Court: The media are treating the American Bar Association's top rating for Judge Sonia Sotomayor like a dispassionate report card. The record shows that the ABA applies a politicized double standard.

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The ABA's Canons of Judicial Ethics have a lot of high-minded language. Such as: "To ensure impartiality and fairness to all parties, a judge must be objective and open-minded." And: "A judge shall not . . . by words or conduct manifest bias or prejudice," including but not limited to "bias . . . based upon race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity . . . ."

And why not? Because "a judge who manifests bias or prejudice in a proceeding impairs the fairness of the proceeding and brings the judiciary into disrepute. A judge must avoid conduct that may reasonably be perceived as prejudiced or biased."

The very definition of "conduct that may reasonably be perceived as prejudiced or biased" can be found in Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's statements on race. She has claimed — over and over, it turns out — that "a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

The unmistakable assertion: A "wise Latina woman" is morally superior to those of another race and the other sex.

[Kaslin]

Please freep mail me if you want to be on my IBD Editorials ping list

[Kaslin]

Ping

[cranked]

The ABA is a joke...

[Bahbah]

I left the ABA long ago.

[MBB1984]

The ABA is a leftist organization masquerading as a legitimate association of attorneys. It should be given no more deference than the Flat Earth Society.

[dfwgator]

Yeah, but I still think the red, white and blue basketball was cool.

[RJL]

Most importantly, Sotomayor is a hard left liberal, that overrides any other shortcomings.

[GreenLanternCorps]

Great minds think alike...

[airborne]

Didn't the Supreme Court overturn her ruling 9 - 0 ???

[MBB1984]

Dr. J. played his best basketball there, too.