I found it disturbing to listen to the news media discussing President Obama's supposed criteria for selecting the next nominee for the Supreme Court. Their prediction is that he will name a Hispanic woman to identify with both women and Hispanics. Although there is certainly nothing wrong with having a qualified judge who is female and Hispanic, the idea that a person's ability to identify with another person is based primarily on their gender or race is both sexist and racist in the truest sense of those words.
Putting it another way, it is saying that all Hispanics think like Hispanics, all African Americans think like African Americans, that somehow a person's race defines who that person is and what views they hold. Though we often joke about the differences in the way men and women think, it is insulting to say that the primary thing that influences a person's ability to relate to another person is their gender. This way of classifying people does more to divide us than it does to unite us as a people with a common pursuit of "liberty and justice for all."
Beyond this, the whole premise that a Supreme Court Justice must draw upon their own personal experiences in order to carry out their duties of interpreting the Constitution denies the very concept of justice as our founders understood it.
There is a sculpture that appears outside the U.S. Supreme Court titled The Contemplation of Justice. Here is the description from the Supreme Court Web site: "In this sculpture, a seated female figure reflects on a small figure of Justice that she holds in her right hand. The figure of Justice is blindfolded and cradles a set of scales in her arms." What is significant is that the larger figure is not blindfolded and gazes at the statue of Justice who is blindfolded.
Our Supreme Court justices all have their own unique identities and come from various social and ethnic backgrounds and experiences. However, what is required in justice is a determination to not bring into the decision-making process personal feelings, experiences, viewpoints or relationships. Justice seeks to weigh the facts objectively and apply the rule of law impartially.
We need to pray that God gives our president wisdom and courage to not cave in to political correctness but to chose someone who we can all relate to and admire, a fallible human being who feels their own inadequacy and the immense weight of a their high office and carries out their assigned duties with diligence, selflessness and restraint.
