By Hootsbuddy
This sounds better in Nina Totenberg's report. Time permitting, go to the link and take a few minutes to listen. It's a little less than nine minutes, and this part made an unforgettable impression in my memory.
Sotomayor's appointment to the federal trial court in 1991, when she was not yet 38 years old, is a remarkable story. Though she had worked for Morgenthau, Manhattan's legendary district attorney, and won his admiration, she did not have the usual political mentors that even very qualified judicial candidates usually need to win a federal judgeship.
It was her luck that then-Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) had set up a merit screening committee for judicial appointments that was the real deal. Sotomayor's senior law partner, David Botwinik, suggested that she apply.
As she recounted at her swearing-in ceremony, she ignored Botwinik for three months, believing she had no chance, until finally he pulled rank, tossed the application on her desk and ordered her to fill it out. He even took all work away from her for a week so that she and her secretary, a paralegal, and his secretary could fill out the burdensome application form.
In the end, Sotomayor was one of three applicants recommended to Moynihan, a lion of the Senate and a distinguished former academic. Joseph Gale, then a staff counsel for Moynihan, was there when Sotomayor came in for her interview. She took one of the two big chairs in front of the fireplace, with the towering Moynihan in the other. Gale, now a tax court judge, says lesser mortals had crumpled in that chair, but not Sotomayor.
"It was striking how, as a 38-year-old, she absolutely went toe-to-toe with Moynihan on any question he asked her," Gale said. "She was unflappable and completely poised, incredibly mature." He adds: "Sotomayor knocked his socks off."
When the interview was over, Moynihan turned to Gale and said simply: "Where did they find her?"
Moynihan recommended Sotomayor to the first President Bush. He nominated her, and she was confirmed by unanimous vote of the Senate.
It is significant that most of the criticisms of this candidate are delivered by men with Southern accents. Brings back the good old days when they complained about "outside agitators" and railed about the importance of "states rights." They were off-base then and they are off base now. I hope before I die that bigotry such as theirs no longer gets enough votes from a prejudiced electorate to make any difference.
No comments:
Post a Comment