WASHINGTON - -The Supreme Court's reversal Monday of a discrimination ruling involving a group of white Connecticut firefighters has provided critics of high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor with some fresh buckshot.
The ruling that New Haven firefighters were unfairly denied promotions because of their race became an instant talking point for conservative foes of Sotomayor.
They argued that her court's decision to the contrary last year shows she would be an activist who allows her biases - particularly her backing of affirmative action policies - to taint her judgment.
"This case will only raise more questions in the minds of the American people concerning Judge Sotomayor's commitment to treat each individual fairly and not as a member of a group," said Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Sotomayor's confirmation hearings before the committee begin July 13.
At issue in the case was New Haven's decision to throw out a promotion exam for firefighters because virtually no minorities scored highly enough to qualify. The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the city's fear of a racial discrimination lawsuit by minority firefighters wasn't by itself enough to allow it to discriminate against the white candidates who scored well enough to get promotions.
Sotomayor's critics have contended that the way her panel disposed of the case - through a three-paragraph, unsigned opinion - was as bad as the result.
By contrast, the Supreme Court's ruling Monday was nearly 100 pages.
"Not only did Judge Sotomayor misapply the law, but the perfunctory way in which she and her panel dismissed the firefighters' meritorious claims of unfair treatment is particularly troubling," said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader.
But Sotomayor's supporters jumped to her defense Monday, saying that she and the other members of the panel were simply applying the governing federal law at the time to the claims of the white firefighters, which allowed New Haven to discard the civil service exam.
"It's clear she is a modest judge," said Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat and a member of the Judiciary Committee. "She is not busy overturning cases. She is not imposing her own opinions on the law. She is following the law rigorously."
Schumer said that the narrow tally on the high court - four justices, including Justice David Souter, whom Sotomayor would replace, backed the appeals court's result - "bolsters the fact that she is a mainstream judge."
