re: #180 lostlakehiker

Your analogy with a tape measure isn’t particularly apt. Test scoring, in the case of essays, can certainly be a subjective exercise; and test taking, in the interpretation of what question is being asked, has been shown countless times to be affected by race, economic background and other discernible differences.

More importantly, though, Sotomayor wasn’t alone in her judgment in this case; two other judges on the panel agreed with her, making the decision unanimous. And her decision was based on upholding city law, which required exactly the ruling the appeals court handed down - exactly the sort of constructionist judge who follows the law rather than making new law from the bench that Conservatives have demanded for years. Even the Supreme’s was close - a 5-4 margin.

Would you be happier if the appeals court, including Sotomayor, had voted to overturn New Haven’s law that was put in place by it’s duly elected officials?

I’m just not seeing how the New Haven case is even slightly pertinent; it’s exactly the kind of decision Conservatives would be loudly praising had it been made by one of their nominees, and it would have been cited as a primary reason for them to make such a nomination in the first place.