Sonia Sotomayor, The View from the Left

Sonia Sotomayor has flunked the First Amendment sniff test with Andy Thibault, the proprietor of The Cool Justice Report. Sotomayor is President Barack Obama’s choice to fill a vacancy on the U.S Supreme Court left by the impending retirement of Justice David Souter.

With permission, Tibault’s take on Sotomayor is printed here:

Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Sotomayor, Enemy Of Free Speech, Pushed For Supremes

My Take
On This Fundamentally Flawed Selection …

Sotomayor was clubbed on the head with a crystal-clear free speech violation and she said, in effect, 'That's nice, I'll sign off on it.'

When a citizen seeks a redress of a grievance and is punished for lobbying the community, that's OK with Sotomayor. Nevermind the fabrication of disruption or potential disruption long after the fact by the douche bag school bosses: Sotomayor flunks due diligence, a reading of her own Second Circuit on the standard of offensiveness and most importantly, her duty to uphold the Bill of Rights. Any punishment by a government official in response to protected speech is a violation of the First Amendment.

What kind of third-rate vetters is the Obama Administration using?

Obama talks a good game about openness and civil rights. His kowtowing to the military industrial complex and spymasters on torture photos and this lame choice for the high court demonstrate the contrast between his words and deeds.

-- Andy Thibault, 5-26-09

• Stop Enemies Of Free Speech From Being Elevated To Higher Courts
In Doninger v. Niehoff, the Second Circuit upheld the right of school officials to punish students for out-of–school speech in a major blow to both the first amendment and student rights ... [that ruling is still in play at the Second Circuit ... ]
• Turley On Sotomayor's Troubling Decisions, Lack Of Depth• Why One Strike Against the First Amendment Should Rule Sotomayor Out of the Supreme Court

Paul Levinson is not pleased either.

My own take on the Avery Doninger case may be found here.

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