Will Supreme Courts Decision on New Haven Firefighter Case Hurt Sonia Sotomayors Confirmation?
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor may have a more difficult path ahead on her way toward confirmation, after the Supreme Court yesterday overturned a key “reverse discrimination” ruling she took part in. The Supreme Court on Monday ruled 5-4 in Ricci v. DeStefano that the city of New Haven, CT, wrongly discarded the results of promotional exams for their firefighters after too few minorities qualified. A group of 20 mostly white firefighters sued for reverse discrimination. Sotomayor and two other federal appeals court judges last year sided with the city. The decision is notable because some conservative Republicans have criticized Sotomayor’s views on racial preferences, some even calling her “racist.” They say the Bronx-raised Latina judge may place race ahead of other issues in some of her decisions, and that she could be a liberal judicial activist. Now, those on the left and right are weighing in as to what this means for Sotomayor’s confirmation, which is supposed to begin J
