Thoughts on Sotomayor

My recent service on a jury re-instigated my love of law; a love I commonly overlook when I think about the future.
When Justice Souter announced he was retiring, I was in the library writing a religious studies paper. I hardly had time to think of whom Obama would choose. When Obama first announced his choice was Judge Sonia Sotomayor, I had just started summer and as much as I hate to admit it, the last thing I wanted to do was read anything academic or even touch a newspaper. Intense semester...I think yes. But now I am finally coming around to re-immersing myself into the news and the world. I don't know much about Sotomayor to be honest I didn't even know she was Latino until about the 5th time I heard her name, but my initial thoughts were: She was chosen because she is a woman. That bias soon transcended into the thought that she was chosen because she was BOTH a woman and Latino. Granted this view forms a simplistic way of looking at the nomination process. What I do know about Sotomayor is that she is extremely qualified,she has a great background story,and she will be confirmed (in the absence of any scandals arising from her past). Essentially a liberal justice will be replacing a liberal justice... so why does it matter? It matters in the sense that society needs a wise fair judge on the bench; that wise judge may be Sotomayor but it could very well be someone else. Like I said I was basically sleeping through the whole selection process, so I don't even know the other names that made it to the short list, but I would hate to have Sotomayor chosen over someone more qualified only because Obama needs to repay the Latino community. At age 54, she is a bit younger than I would like for a justice, because I personally support a year limit on the Justices' service and I believe older judges to be wiser and more effective at evaluating the cases. I can only hope that judges ask the right questions and discover the best solution for society, such as Solomon. When approached by two women both claiming to be the mother of a baby, Solomon threatened to cut the baby in half and this threat instantly revealed the true mother when she was prepared to give the baby to the other woman so it could live.
Also from the little information I know about the cases she has ruled on, it seems she has a somewhat racist bias, for instance her ruling that the freedom of speech inhibited NYC from firing a worker who posted a racist letter. She also ruled on the government's side in the eminent domain case of Didden v Village of Port Chester when the current owner of the property would have used the property for the same thing the government did: an establishment of a pharmacy. I don't always like to judge people on comments they say in passing that happen to make it on the record somewhere, but one can not simply ignore offhand comments and Sotomayor is no exception to that rule. She stated in a speech in California that although " judges must transcend their personal sympathies and prejudices.....I wonder whether achieving that goal is possible in all or even in most cases. And I wonder whether by ignoring our differences as women or men of colour we do a disservice both to the law and to society.”
Sotomayor is not my ideal candidate for the Supreme Court, but hopefully she will make impartial and wise decisions, despite her past comments.

I just hope this is the end of Obama's repayments, he already defied basic free market economics with his rash opinion to bailout the Big 3 in an attempt to pay back unions for their support. As a moderate I voted for Obama, hopefully he can start repaying me by doing what he believes is best for society and not worry about his constituents, because what policy serves us best may not make us happy in the short-term.
Obama made the political choice...and for economists all politics seem stupid and political decisions deviate far from the logical choices economists would execute.