Quote:
Originally Posted by MysticCat
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.
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. |
Most generously, maybe, but she didn't say that a wise Latina was equally as likely to reach a good conclusion as a white guy; she asserted that the wise Latina was more likely to, and that's why, even in context, I still find it problematic.
It also doesn't make a lot of sense to me to compare historic legal decisions that we generally regard as wrong today with the likely behavior of anyone in the present.