David Brooks, Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times (generally a more conservative thinker), gives some of articulate thoughts on Sotomayor, and the U.S. Supreme Court in general in his piece titled "The Empathy Issue."
The crucial question in evaluating a potential Supreme Court justice, therefore, is not whether she relies on empathy or emotion, but how she does so. First, can she process multiple streams of emotion? Reason is weak and emotions are strong, but emotions can be balanced off each other. Sonia Sotomayor will be a good justice if she can empathize with the many types of people and actions involved in a case, but a bad justice if she can only empathize with one type, one ethnic group or one social class.
And a little more food for thought: Another piece of early speculation has focused on how often Sotomayor has been reversed by the Supreme Court. Several news organizations have noted that her reversal record is no worse than the justice she is set to replace, or other justices currently on the court.
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