Sotomayor Day 3: Wise Latina By TKO (w/an Assist From Pat Buchanan)

TKO! Game-over...Sonia Sotomayor wins. Now we'll just have wait for the vote to make it official.

Why am I so sure it's over?

Simple. The Republican's only line of attack against Sotomayor -- a veteran jurist deemed highly qualified by the American Bar Association and previously vetted and confirmed by both Republicans and Democrats -- is the anthesis of her race-baiting, facists and patronizing prosecutors inspired by the leader of the Republicans Rush Limbaugh and former Republican presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan.

Watch Cenk and Maddow rip the Buchanan for his unapologetic white supremacist campaign against Sotomayor.

It's simply beyond laughable to believe that Sotomayor is the racist, and Buchanan, the true believer in civil rights.

IMO, Their ugly strategy has backfired!

Watch how a number of Republicans will seek to distant themselves from the ugly racists of their party will now vote for Sotomayor.

Sotomayor Day 2: Wise Latina 2 -- Good Ole Boys 0

The questioning of Sonia Sotomayor began in earnest today in the U.S. Senate; unfortunately for Republican interrogators, it was a 2nd bad day. For example, Sessions of Alabama tried desperately to trip Sotomayor on issues of law that she's better informed about; and Lindsey Olin Graham of South Carolina, a fellow known for slavishly promoting John McCain's presidential bid and defending his volcanic temper, bullied on about Sotomayor's 'temperament' problem. Yeesh!

Sonia Sotomayor doesn't suffer fools lightly, but--given the high stakes and the power of her adversaries--is nonetheless forced to tolerate buffoons.

Sotomayor on Being Latina

The following passage on being Latina is from a Sonia Sotomayor's A Latina Judge’s Voice lecture (aka, The Wise Latina Speech), delivered at the California University, Berkeley School of Law in 2001:

I became a Latina by the way I love and the way I live my life. My family showed me by their example how wonderful and vibrant life is and how wonderful and magical it is to have a Latina soul. They taught me to love being a Puertorriqueña and to love America and value its lesson that great things could be achieved if one works hard for it. But achieving success here is no easy accomplishment for Latinos or Latinas, and although that struggle did not and does not create a Latina identity, it does inspire how I live my life.

Sotomayor Day 1: Score One for The Wise Latina

Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings before Judiciary Committee began yesterday. It was a good day for the smart, patient and gracious Judge and a bad day for the band of wingnuts.

While a majority of the committee are conducting themselves in a thoughtful and respectful way, the same however can not be said for five of the Republicans (Cornyn of Texas, Grassley of Iowa, Kyl of Arizona, Coburn of Oklahoma) on the panel led by confirmed racist Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard Sessions III of Alabama.

Sessions, et al., seek to: 1) tarnish President Barack Obama as someone favoring 'radical' minorities; while 2) painting Sonia Sotomayor (and LatinoJustice) as racist.

Laughable, right?

Mimicking the rants of Limbaugh, these 5 privileged White men--in full bluster--suggested that Sotomayor's views are at odds with the just and color-blind rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court.

What's weird is that these fellows are blind to their buffoonery.

Decision: Sotomayor

Sotomayor's Opening Statement

Judge Sonia Sotomayor delivers her opening statement during the first day of her confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Once confirmed, Sotomayor would be the first Latino and third woman to serve on the United State Supreme Court.

Sonia Sotomayor: A New Yorker to the Core

The New York Times describes Sonia Sotomayor as “a daughter” of The Bronx who “claims the Brooklyn Bridge as her power-walking trail, the specialty shops of Greenwich Village as her grocery store, and the United States Court House as the setting for her annual Christmas party.”

Juan Sotomayor, a doctor who lives near Syracuse, says his sister Sonia is as much a New Yorker as she is a Latina (“it’s her essence”). “I always joke that her vision does not extend beyond the Hudson River.”

Ms. Sotomayor, a high-achieving student among high achievers at a Catholic high school in the Bronx, ventured outward to Princeton and Yale. Her return to New York, in which she was filled with ambition and drive as ferocious as the city itself, fit a familiar narrative. Often, friends say this image lingers in their mind’s eye: Ms. Sotomayor poring over law books and legal papers. Some days, she has said, it is hard enough to find time to sleep.

Sonia Sotomayor: A Justice Like No Other

Barack Obama said he wanted: a Supreme Court nominee with a "common touch." With Sonia Sotomayor, he got somebody with a common touch and an uncommon story. Nobody expects you to be chosen someday for the Supreme Court when your father was a welder with a third-grade education. Nobody expects you to make it to Princeton when you come from a public-housing project.

More

Sonia Sotomayor: Obama's Supreme Pick

President Barack Obama has nominated Appellate Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Sotomayor will become the first member of Latino heritage to serve on the nation's highest court.

From the AP (Obama picks Sotomayor for high court):

Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a self-described "Niuyorican" who grew up in a Bronx housing project after her parents moved to New York from Puerto Rico. She has dealt with diabetes since age 8 and lost her father at age 9, growing up under the care of her mother in humble surroundings. As a girl, inspired by the Perry Mason television show, she knew she wanted to be a judge.

A graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School, a former prosecutor and private attorney, Sotomayor became a federal judge for the Southern District of New York in 1992.

As a judge, she has a bipartisan pedigree. She was first appointed by a Republican, President George H.W. Bush, then named an appeals judge by President Bill Clinton in 1997.

Obama on Hazelton

Chicago, IL-- Senator Obama released the following statement in response to Judge James Munley's ruling that the city of Hazleton's anti-immigrant ordinance is unconstitutional.

"Today's ruling by Judge James Munley is a victory for all Americans. The anti-immigrant law passed by Mayor Barletta was unconstitutional and unworkable - and it underscores the need for comprehensive immigration reform so local communities do not continue to take matters into their own hands.

Recently, the U.S. Senate failed the American people by blocking progress on immigration reform for the second time in two years. We cannot put this off any longer.

The ongoing problems with our immigration system are dividing our country, and distracting us from the work we need to do in other important areas such as health care, education, and jobs.

We need to act urgently to create an immigration system that secures our borders and enforces our laws, reflects our best traditions as a nation of immigrants, and upholds the values and ideals that all Americans cherish.

I have been fighting for that kind of system for several years now, and I will continue fighting for that kind of system until we pass comprehensive immigration reform once and for all."

Hazelton's Anti-Latino Immigrant Code Struck Down

FLASH!!!!

The AP is reporting that Hazelton, Pennsylvania's anti-immigrant law has just been struck down by a federal judge.

Hazelton's Republican mayor Louis Barletta pushed through a housing law intended to make it unlawful for "illegal" immigrants to live in Hazelton. The result however was that the laws and their enforcement has had a detrimental impact on all Latino residents, including legal immigrants as well as U.S. citizens of Puerto Rican heritage.

Since many other towns adopted the Hazelton anti-immigrant housing codes, it's expected that those other laws will also be challenged.

Dem Hopefuls React to Today's Court Decision

What timing. Just hours before this evening's Democratic debate at Howard University, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 against programs aimed at achieving diversity in public school enrollment.

The Democratic presidential hopefuls were quick to react. Here are some of their comments as reported by AP:

- Hillary Rodham Clinton said she would "fight to restore Brown's promise."
- Barack Obama said it was "wrong-headed."
- Chris Dodd said the decision "will add to the resegregation...in our nation's schools."
- John Edwards said that "[t]he Supreme Court is on the ballot in this next election."
- Joe Biden said that "[t]he personal liberties of every American would be threatened even more if another conservative is allowed to serve on the Robert's court."

Look for all of tonight's debaters to denounce today's court decision--as well as the senate vote to kill immigration reform.

The education of undocumented children protected by the U.S. Constitution

It's a little understood aspect of American law and the rights of undocumented children in the U.S., but 25 years ago the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Tyler v. Doe that the education of undocumented children is protected under the constitution.

In other words, it is illegal for public schools districts anywhere in America to deny an education to any child based on his/her immigrantion status.

The following are excerpts from Education Week's article on the subject: Amid Immigration Debate, Settled Ground:

Against that backdrop, the Tyler Independent School District this month will reach a milestone in the area of immigrants’ rights: the 25th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Plyler v. Doe, which barred Tyler—where the case originated—and other public school systems from charging tuition for undocumented children.

"I'm glad we lost the Hispanic [court case], so that those kids could get educated." James Plyler, former superintendent of the Tyler public schools, talks with Mary Ann Zehr about his role in the case. Since that 5-4 decision on June 15, 1982, public schools across the country have been obligated to enroll children regardless of their immigration status. In sharp contrast to the national upheaval over racial desegregation in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education, the immigration ruling became a quiet fact of life for educators in Tyler and elsewhere.

“Tyler is a very conservative town. If you conduct a poll—‘Should we pay for the education of illegal immigrants?’—people wouldn’t be for that,” said Andy Bergfeld, 36, the president of the Tyler school board. At the same time, he said, “we understand it’s our job to educate whoever the United States and Texas tells us to educate.”

Imprisoned Immigrant Children Denied Education

Attorney Scott Medlock of the Austin-based Texas Civil Rights Project sent this letter to Taylor school Superintendent Bruce Scott, Williamson County Judge Dan A. Gattis and the T. Don Hutto Residential Center warden demanding that the children held at the "center" be given the seven hours of daily instruction as required by the Texas Education Code.

"As you know, state and federal law requires undocumented immigrant children be provided with educational opportunities equivalent to programs provided to other children," Medlock's letter states, citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Plyler v. Doe.

Schools Superintendent Scott and officials from the Williamson County referred questions to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. A spokeswoman for that agency said that they were investigating and had no comment.

The T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, Texas is a for-profit facility owned by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), a Nashville based company. CCA has a major contract with the federal government to operate Don Hutto as a prison (or modern day concentration camp) for immigrant families. The 512 bed facility, which some refer to as a concentration camp, has been the target of a numerous protests against the practice of incarcerating children. Williamson County receives a "kick-back" for each person imprisoned at Don Hutto.

Local residents and members of Texans United for Families, a coalition of community, civil rights and immigrant rights groups, have expressed outrage about the detention of families and children, saying it is immoral.

Speaking as a mother and as an ACLU attorney, Rebecca Bernhardt, said:

“It horrifies me as a mother to think of what it's like to not be able to watch your kids play outside when they want to or not watch your kids go to school and learn,” she said. “Not only is this a grave human rights violation it is also an incredible waste of taxpayer resources. There are alternative, cheaper ways of handling immigration that have been proven to work just fine as far as getting people to their court hearing.”