"Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences...our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging. Justice O'Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases. I am not so sure....that I agree with the statement. First, as Professor Martha Minnow has noted, there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, I would hope 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.
"Would a white male supreme court nominee be accused of racism and "hateful speech" if he had said,
"Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences...our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging. Justice O'Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases. I am not so sure....that I agree with the statement. First, as Professor Martha Minnow has noted, there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, I would hope that a wise white male with the richness of his experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a latina female who hasn't lived that life.
"Judge Sotomayor, can you give an example of how your race and background could lead you to reach a different decision from the white male justices on the Supreme court?"
As you said, I'm sure they are already rehearsing answers to try to wiggle out of her statements. On the "make policy" statement I expect her to say something like, "I accidentally chose the wrong word. Instead of "policy" I meant to say ...."
If the question if framed properly (and yours are pretty good), the listener will know the answer as soon as they hear the question. Sure, she’ll try to wiggle but it’s pretty hard given how specific she was and the laugher at her policy comment. Actually playing that comment, rather than reading it, would be ideal because it’s crystal clear what she meant to say.