Matt Yglesias

22 Responses to “A Dissent on Sotomayor”

1. Bob Oso Says:
   May 4th, 2009 at 2:04 pm

   I thought the issue of your last post was whether she at least gets the rebuttable presumption that she was “intelligent” enough. Not whether she was or not.

2. Brad Says:
   May 4th, 2009 at 2:04 pm

   Because if there’s one person capable of judging the intellect of a potential Supreme Court Justice, it’s a 1L.

3. Duvall Says:
   May 4th, 2009 at 2:12 pm

   Because if there’s one person capable of judging the intellect of a potential Supreme Court Justice, it’s a 1L.

   A class from a visiting judge? Surely a 2L at least. Much more reliable.

4. bob mcmanus Says:
   May 4th, 2009 at 2:16 pm

   Points against Sotomayor:

   1) Older than I’d like
   2) Too many Catholics on the court
   3) She seems to me to be the Village default pick, rather than Obama’s. Out of the thousands possible, I have never seen anyone so quickly gain the consensus nod. Obama could show some independence here. Like…Sunstein! Just kidding.

5. razib Says:
   May 4th, 2009 at 2:24 pm

   i hate how law people talk about people being “whip-smart” or “deadly-smart.” it’s because you people aren’t doing anything with your minds except dance around going “blah, blah, blah, blah blah blah.” go design a microchip or write up a useful software application.

6. Craig Says:
   May 4th, 2009 at 2:25 pm

   If you look at Obama’s tendencies in terms of appointments I don’t think it is likely he will pick someone who isn’t really smart. I suspect he will interview several people before he makes a choice and he should be a fairly good judge of whether she is smart enough.

7. blah Says:
   May 4th, 2009 at 2:27 pm

   Pam Karlan

   http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/0509/SCOTUS_candidate_Karlan_wants_bold_statement_from_Obama.html

8. mds Says:
   May 4th, 2009 at 2:28 pm

   Obama could show some independence here. Like…Sunstein! Just kidding.

   I’ve already made a wish about this on another disappointing liberal blog, but… Dawn Johnsen, who is already apparently too controversial for the OLC. Worked for NARAL and the ACLU? New presumptive ranking member Sessions’ head, it would explode. Not that he’s currently using it for anything.

9. John Says:
   May 4th, 2009 at 2:39 pm

   Because if there’s one person capable of judging the intellect of a potential Supreme Court Justice, it’s a 1L.

   Given that law students edit the major legal scholarly publications, this doesn’t seem so crazy. “Law review” has got to be one of the most bizarre institutions ever developed by man.

10. idiotic Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 2:58 pm

    THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS!! FOR SOTOMAYOR!!!!

11. Skeptic Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 3:00 pm

    Well, obviously Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, and Scalitoboy are such towers of intellectual accomplishment, aren’t they.

12. SLC Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 3:11 pm

    How about Anita Hill? That would certainly give fuckface Clarence Thomas some sleepless nights.

13. Carl Bentham Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 3:13 pm

    What’s wrong with compiling opinions of a SCOTUS nominee’s peers? You’re right to doubt that the particular analysis by Rosen is fair, but in general we can get a lot of insight from a comprehensive survey of colleagues. If many of them believe he/she lacks the analytical skills to be on the Supreme Court and counter the conservative justices, then why not take that into consideration?

    Granted, there are all sorts of biases and methodological pitfalls to beware of, but to try to gauge other’s opinions of a nominee’s talent is not a completely futile enterprise- in fact, it’s a necessary one. A good resume is not enough.

14. Matt Weiner Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 3:21 pm

    What’s wrong with compiling opinions of a SCOTUS nominee’s peers?

    Wasn’t that what the ABA evaluations did, before Bush trashed them?

15. Anandakos Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 4:09 pm

    Guess we know who got a “C” in constitutional law, don’t we.

    Kudos to G.R. for admiring her anyway.

16. Steve Sailer Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 4:14 pm

    Hey, Matt, since you are on a Supreme Court kick, are you ever going to finally write about the most important current Supreme Court case, the Ricci firemen reverse discrimination lawsuit? Ms. Sotomayor, for example, voted for the much-derided majority opinion against the firemen.

17. Mario Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 5:00 pm

    I don’t know why it’s so difficult to figure out who Obama will nominate. Find the people who are scrambling to file back tax return. That’s the shortlist.

18. beamish Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 9:14 pm

    It’s worth mentioning Gerard Magliocca’s opinion on the matter: The bottom line is that I have always been enormously impressed by her intellect, which is why I’ve always been eager to seek out her views on matters of professional concern. My academic interest in trademark law, for instance, got started from conversations that I had with her about her trademark practice when she was at her firm. It’s difficult to give you a brief anecdote with the takeaway of, “Hey, she’s really smart,” but Rosen’s collection of quotes sound like little more than sour grapes to me.

19. Patrick C Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 10:45 pm

    In fairness, we don’t always have an accurate opinion of our teachers. It is easy to idealize their intelligence; they have the power and the knowledge and generally the interaction is unidirectional. In other words, you don’t get to see your teachers taking any tests.

    With coworkers, on the other hand, you get a very different perspective. There is a lot of dialog and you are generally both producing work that you can evaluate. I feel like it gives a much better opportunity to assess a person’s strengths and weaknesses. But I’ll admit opinions may also be distorted because of the emotions that result from working on a project together.

20. joe from Lowell Says:
    May 5th, 2009 at 9:14 am

    For SOME reason – some incomprehensible reason – people who have even the slightest trace of a Latino or African-American accent are often perceived as being less intelligent than they actually are, just as people with a Germanic or British accent are perceived as being smarter.

    For SOME reason.

21. TurkoAmericano Says:
    May 5th, 2009 at 10:03 am

    I think it is very important to note that at least two people I know think Jeffrey Rosen is a douche. Obviously we must consider this while evaluating his piece.

22. freepatriot Says:
    May 5th, 2009 at 1:16 pm

    several autonomous sources tell me that rosen is a goat molester

    obviously we must consider rosen’s late night frolicking with goats while evaluating this piece