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A Fighter

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Supreme Court
Posted on Wed May 27, 2009 at 07:31:47 PM EST
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Via Jason Zengerle, here's an anecdote from Judge Sonia Sotomayor's law school days that demonstrates her fighting spirit:

A large Washington law firm-Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge-has been forced to apologize to a Yale Law School senior after a student-faculty tribunal found one of its partners had asked her "discriminatory" questions focusing on her being a Puerto Rican. . . . The questions, according to the tribunal, included: 'Do law firms do a disservice by hiring minority students who the firms know do not have the necessary credentials and will then fire in three to four years? Would I have been admitted to the law school if I were not a Puerto Rican? Was I culturally deprived?" . . . Krall asked the questions of Sonia Sotomayor de Noonan, a resident of the Bronx, N.Y., who had graduated from Princeton before going to Yale Law, during a dinner in New Haven Oct. 2 with several other Yale students.

Sotomayor had the courage to stare down these racist questioners. Not an easy thing to do, especially when you are in your last year of law school.

Speaking for me only

< Media Ignorance? Or Media Racism? | Demanding Answers From Sotomayor >

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    A Fighter | 23 comments (23 topical)

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    This is not just a testament to who (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by Anne on Wed May 27, 2009 at 09:10:53 PM EST
    Sotomayor is, it is a testament to her upbringing, to a mother who must have taught her, always, that she never had to take a back seat to anyone, ever - even if some big-deal partner in a big-deal law firm put her on the spot with truly insulting questions, and even if standing up to that put her future career at some risk.

    Women like Sotomayor - people like Sotomayor - did not get where they are by taking a lot of cr@p from people; her ability to be a role model for other women, who might also gain, through her example, the strength to not take any cr@p from people, is precisely what is so threatening about her to those who have built careers on, and made themselves feel bigger by, making others feel smaller.

    The more I read about this woman, the more I like (none / 0) (#1)
    by aeguy on Wed May 27, 2009 at 07:46:24 PM EST
    She is an inspiration. Keep fighting Sotomayor. We have your back!

    Here is Mr. Krall's bio: (none / 0) (#2)
    by oculus on Wed May 27, 2009 at 07:47:56 PM EST
    Pillsbury

    I'd say Ms. Sotomayor did a lot more than stare him down.  She ratted him out, which was the genesis of the student tribunal.  Good for her.

    Several interviews in the early '80s for positions in the legal field generated similar questions and comments regarding the fact I was "older" and female.  I did nothing.  


    Figures Zuckerman would use this schmuck (none / 0) (#3)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Wed May 27, 2009 at 07:49:43 PM EST


    Parent
    Which is better? (none / 0) (#5)
    by nycstray on Wed May 27, 2009 at 08:22:34 PM EST
    Summa or Magna?

    (yes, I painted my way through college!)

    Parent

    summa (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by oculus on Wed May 27, 2009 at 08:24:22 PM EST


    Parent
    Thanks :) (none / 0) (#8)
    by nycstray on Wed May 27, 2009 at 08:25:49 PM EST


    Parent
    Not just (none / 0) (#12)
    by Zorba on Wed May 27, 2009 at 09:09:52 PM EST
    Summa- she was second in her graduating class at Princeton, and Phi Beta Kappa, as well.

    Parent
    Think "summit" (none / 0) (#15)
    by gyrfalcon on Thu May 28, 2009 at 12:06:51 AM EST
    as a memory aid...

    Parent
    Ah, thank you (none / 0) (#18)
    by nycstray on Thu May 28, 2009 at 12:57:58 AM EST
    In my school, it was "portfolio" etc  ;)

    It's "interesting" that the guy who asked those questions was magna and she was summa, well to to me it was. Gotta love the irony.

    I wonder how they/he would have phrased those questions if she was a Latino? back then, I could see them being similar, but it would be interesting to see a side by side with a minority male. Aw heck, it would have to be a comparable PR male, because, "we" do have our degrees of racism/sexism . . .

    Parent

    My mom is going to like this story (none / 0) (#4)
    by andgarden on Wed May 27, 2009 at 08:13:29 PM EST
    I used to hear about creeps like this when I was growing up.

    You may meet them in person when (none / 0) (#6)
    by oculus on Wed May 27, 2009 at 08:23:36 PM EST
    you begin to interview.

    Parent
    It would be nice to think (none / 0) (#9)
    by andgarden on Wed May 27, 2009 at 08:27:58 PM EST
    that the world is a different place. But I know that change is evolutionary. . .

    Parent
    Heard story about her NYC DA days today on WNYC-- (none / 0) (#10)
    by jawbone on Wed May 27, 2009 at 08:34:40 PM EST
    While being on the site when police were going to arrest Fendi knockoff sellers in Chinatown, she saw perps running off with evidence. She got on a motorscooter, chased the perps down, and corraled them until the cops caught up to her.

    Apocryphal? I have no idea, but I heard it on NYC public radio.

     

    My gosh (none / 0) (#11)
    by Steve M on Wed May 27, 2009 at 08:55:10 PM EST
    That DOES take a lot of courage.  So much competition, so much pressure to believe that if you step out of line once, your entire path to fame and fortune will be derailed.

    That's a wonderful story (none / 0) (#14)
    by Maryb2004 on Wed May 27, 2009 at 09:29:42 PM EST
    It took a lot of courage to do that, especially at that time.  

    Amazingly (none / 0) (#16)
    by Steve M on Thu May 28, 2009 at 12:43:37 AM EST
    The Weekly Standard believes that this episode illustrates a case of Sotomayor receiving "preferential treatment."

    What is wrong with these people?

    What's wrong with them (none / 0) (#17)
    by andgarden on Thu May 28, 2009 at 12:54:39 AM EST
    is that they don't see anything wrong with the questions she was asked.

    Parent
    Well, I like the heck out of this (none / 0) (#19)
    by Militarytracy on Thu May 28, 2009 at 08:35:19 AM EST
    feather that is in her cap!

    simply answer the question (none / 0) (#20)
    by diogenes on Thu May 28, 2009 at 01:28:27 PM EST
    I guess Sotomeyer thinks that she WOULD have been admitted to Yale Law School if she were white.  Fine, if true.  On the other hand, she wouldn't have been hired as a firefighter in the famous current case if she were white or Puerto Rican.

    Of course it's (none / 0) (#21)
    by jondee on Thu May 28, 2009 at 01:37:45 PM EST
    all right when legacys with C averages recieve preferential treatment.

    Parent
    illogical (1.00 / 0) (#23)
    by diogenes on Thu May 28, 2009 at 09:44:04 PM EST
    If you are saying that she wouldn't have been admitted to Princeton if she were a nonlegacy white man then I guess you are saying that she wasn't such an intellectual heavyweight.  
    Is there any chance in the universe that she would have been nominated for the SCOTUS if she were a white male, or are there other white male judges who would have been picked instead.  
    The SCOTUS dictates where the country goes; the example of Clarence Thomas should tell us to pick the best available judge.  If Sotomayer is that, then I'm sure she has a set of legal writings and stellar decisionwriting as a judge that would say that.  All I hear so far is "inspiring story", "spunky judge", "good strategic pick", and "intellectual heavyweight".

    Parent
    Well (none / 0) (#22)
    by catmandu on Thu May 28, 2009 at 04:59:38 PM EST
    if a lawyer cannot stand up for herself, she cannot stand up for her clients.  I hope she tore them apart with a well spoken argument.

    A Fighter | 23 comments (23 topical)

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