Sotomayor: Not So Diverse After All
I did a broadcast yesterday about Sotomayor for "Marketplace."
Main point: Sonia Sotomayor reaffirms the Supreme Court's 8 to 1 bias against lawyers with a background in business law. Only John Paul Stevens has any extensive record as an adviser to firms. (Back in the 1950s and 1960s, he was an eminent defendant-side antitrust lawyer.) John Roberts did appellate work for business clients, but was not a counselor. Anthony Kennedy was a lawyer-lobbyist in Sacramento for a very few years in the middle 1960s. Otherwise: all have backgrounds in academia and government. Now one more.
Main point: Sonia Sotomayor reaffirms the Supreme Court's 8 to 1 bias against lawyers with a background in business law. Only John Paul Stevens has any extensive record as an adviser to firms. (Back in the 1950s and 1960s, he was an eminent defendant-side antitrust lawyer.) John Roberts did appellate work for business clients, but was not a counselor. Anthony Kennedy was a lawyer-lobbyist in Sacramento for a very few years in the middle 1960s. Otherwise: all have backgrounds in academia and government. Now one more.