[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

So, you think that when you are talking about judges that "reach a better conclusion" doesn't equal "more fit." That seems kind of odd to me.

In the larger context of her speech, and bearing in mind that she said she "would hope that a wise latina woman . . . would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male," yes, I think there is a difference between what she said and a blanket statement that a Latina judge is more fit to make judgment than a white male judge (which is how a.e.B.O.T. characterized what she said). The very next paragraph of the speech rejects such a characterization.

Isn't the quality of the conclusion a judge reaches, especially when considered alongside the reasoning that guides the decision, really how we should evaluate judges?

Yes, without a doubt. But I think that's what she was saying. Look what comes before and after the quote:

Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences, a possibility I abhor less or discount less than my colleague Judge Cedarbaum, our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging. Justice O'Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases. I am not so sure Justice O'Connor is the author of that line since Professor Resnik attributes that line to Supreme Court Justice Coyle. I am also not so sure that I agree with the statement. First, as Professor Martha Minnow has noted, there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life.

Let us not forget that wise men like Oliver Wendell Holmes and Justice Cardozo voted on cases which upheld both sex and race discrimination in our society. Until 1972, no Supreme Court case ever upheld the claim of a woman in a gender discrimination case. I, like Professor Carter, believe that we should not be so myopic as to believe that others of different experiences or backgrounds are incapable of understanding the values and needs of people from a different group. Many are so capable. As Judge Cedarbaum pointed out to me, nine white men on the Supreme Court in the past have done so on many occasions and on many issues including Brown.

In other words, she was suggesting that she would hope that a "wise Latina woman" would reach a better conclusion in certain cases than, say, judges like Oliver Wendell Holmes or his successor at the Court, Benjamin Cardozo -- still among the most respected judges of all time, who nevertheless upheld discriminatory laws.