Tom Goldstein has this op-ed in the NYT, regarding claims of bias being made against Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Here are the first and last paragraphs:
Speaking of unsubstantiated charges of racism, one such charge was contained in the 1981 death penalty memo signed by Sonia Sotomayor, noted here. We are still waiting for her statement on whether she still believes this.
LONG past the Civil War, and a generation after the formative civil rights struggle, many of us remain incapable of having a conversation about ethnicity that does not devolve into charges of racism....Tom is quite correct, but we should note that 99%+ of the unsubstantiated charges of racism emanate from the political left. Will they take Tom's words to heart and desist? I would bet my bottom dollar against it and give 100:1 odds, if I could find anyone fool enough to take the bet.
The public debate ought to be about what the law should command in these kinds of difficult cases. Unsubstantiated charges of racism distract us from these questions and demeans our justice system.
Speaking of unsubstantiated charges of racism, one such charge was contained in the 1981 death penalty memo signed by Sonia Sotomayor, noted here. We are still waiting for her statement on whether she still believes this.
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