Supreme Court Ignorance

Stupid comment of the day goes to three Supreme Court Justices who don't know the meaning of the words they use.

Supreme Court justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor objected to the court's haste in declining Muhammad's case Monday, saying it "highlights once again the perversity of executing inmates before their appeals process has been fully concluded."

Haste? Really, haste? Haste would be carrying out the execution before the trial concluded. This is a case of a mass murderer who was convicted of killing 10 people in 2002. If you can not finish the appeals process in seven years (heck, two weeks) then you're incompetent and should find another line of work. Further highlighting the stupidity of the justice's complaint is Justice Stevens' comment that "he did not disagree with the court's ultimate decision that Muhammad's petition did not warrant the court's consideration." Huh? The prevailing mindset of justices like these is reason the appeals process takes so long.

Only thing dumber than the comments of Stevens, Ginsburg and Sotomayor, is the statement of the killer's lawyer:

"In its effort to race John Allen Muhammad to his death before his appeals could be pursued, the state of Virginia will execute a severely mentally ill man who also suffered from Gulf War Syndrome the day before Veterans Day," he said.

This liar (or lawyer or whatever) is trying to push all the buttons, isn't he? My client is crazy. Wait a second, I meant he's got a disease. How about "he's a veteran let's honor his service before we execute him." Hey, guess what? Being a veteran is not a get out of jail free card. Benedict Arnold was a veteran. So was Lee Harvey Oswald. Heck, Ted Kennedy joined the Army for a couple years after getting kicked out of Harvard for cheating. Here is an idea. You could have argued that nonsense at his trial. I'm almost surprised the lawyer didn't argue that his client shouldn't be executed for these ten murders because he hasn't gotten his day in court for the other ten murders he and his accomplice are suspected of but were never charged with committing.

One last point: If there are more openings on the court you can count on President Obama naming replacements like Stevens, Ginsberg, Sotomayor instead of ones who would read and uphold the Constitution faithfully.

Breaking News: Supreme Court Overrules Sotomayor in Ricci Case

This should make Judge Sotomayor's confirmation hearings more interesting:

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.

By itself, this is not necessarily disqualifying. I'm fairly certain that most Supreme Court nominees have had prior cases overturned. However, what makes this more problematic for Judge Sotomayor is her incorrect ruling in this case plays into the growing image of her as a judge who allows identity politics to sway her rulings rather than solely considering the legal precedents and merits of the case at hand. Baring a major smoking gun, I doubt her nomination is in any real trouble. This just gives senators on the judiciary committee something to stir up.

Breaking News: Obama picks Sotomayor for Supreme Court

The Associated Press is reporting that President Obama is going to pick U.S. Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor as the replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter.

Links with more info to follow shortly.
Here are the first few:

Sonia Sotomayor: Supreme Court Nominee? All You Need To Know - At least according to the Huffington Post.

From Jeffrey Rosen of The New Republic we get "The Case Against Sotomayor"

SCOTUSBLOG weighs in.

Wendy Long of National Review Online's Bench Memos discouragingly notes:

Judge Sotomayor is a liberal judicial activist of the first order who thinks her own personal political agenda is more important that the law as written. She thinks that judges should dictate policy, and that one's sex, race, and ethnicity ought to affect the decisions one renders from the bench.

She has an extremely high rate of her decisions being reversed, indicating that she is far more of a liberal activist than even the current liberal activist Supreme Court.

Meet Sonia Sotomayor

Of course, since this is the 21st century we have the obligatory embarrassing You-Tube clip.

As my brother said to me this morning, "Well there are MANY worse choices." Elections have consequences and this pick is just one of those consequences.