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Indefensible misquote

I voted for Barack Obama and supported Sonia Sotomayor, but was nonetheless disappointed in the article by State Bar President Holly Fujie about the Sotomayor nomination (August). In defending Sotomayor’s controversial statements, Fujie omits Sotomayor’s key word: “better.”

Sotomayor repeatedly said that a wise Latina would make “better” decisions than a white male. Not just “different,” as Fujie recast it, but “better.” Fujie’s omission is telling. Presumably, the reason Fujie didn’t even attempt to defend Sotomayor’s actual statement is because the statement is indefensible.

John Steele
Palo Alto

A different outcome?

President Fujie asks whether Korematsu would have come out the same had there been a Japanese-American on the Supreme Court.  Had there been a Filipino like Michelle Malkin on the Supreme Court at the time, the answer is yes.

It may also have come out the same had one of the justices been a Japanese-American of Ainu descent.

John H. Bogart
Salt Lake City, Utah

Missing the mark

On the day Judge Sotomayor is confirmed by the U.S. Senate, I find that your untimely headline “Court moves … sharply to the right” really missed the mark (August). Newly installed Justice Sotomayor will keep the court more or less on its current moderate track. And Professor Chemerinsky’s opinion that the holding over — yes, holding over, much less a decision — until next year of a campaign finance case spells a potential sharp turn to the right is difficult to fathom. The case, if and when it is decided, will hardly constitute one of the court’s key defining moments in history.

I wonder if and when one will ever see your publication warn of a sharp turn to the left by the court. I somehow doubt it.

Thomas L Gotfredson
La Jolla

A political outrage

I note that our August Bar Journal contains: (a) Ms. Fujie’s referral to Judge Sotomayor’s repeated comparison of “wise Latinas” to white men as “a failed rhetorical flourish.” Had Sotomayor reversed the comparison, her nomination would have been dead at delivery.

(b) Erwin Chemerinsky, the self-styled Constitutional expert, is called upon to deliver his “analysis” of the Supreme Court. Of course, every justice to the right of William O. Douglas is called part of the “right” wing.

I know that the Journal must publish Fujie’s column, but a so-called front-page “analysis” of the Supreme Court by an extreme lefty like Chemerinsky is an outrage.

Thomas Hunter Russell
Los Angeles

Fair for who?

Professor Chemerinsky states that “this was a tough year for plaintiffs bringing employment discrimination claims,” and then cites Ricci v. De-Stefano as an example. On the contrary, despite offending Professor Chemerinsky’s well-documented far left biases, Ricci was a milestone case distinctly upholdling plaintiff’s  employment discrimination claims.

But unfortunately for some idealogues, these ultimately successful plaintiffs were white (and Hispanic) who were discriminated against because of their race. Fair application of the law will not always yield the politically correct result that Professor Chemerinsky would consider “fair.”

Gordon Marahoefer
Newport Beach

New revenue source

Here is an idea for the Legislature of the People to consider to close the state’s revenue gap. Probate lawyers get paid out of the estate for their work, but the court does a lot of the work, especially in complicated cases, and only gets a small filing fee. How about charging court fees equal to 1 percent to probate estates that have a net value of at least $1 million?

R. Deutsch
Bullhead City, Ariz.

Fear of diversity

I just read John Fowler’s letter regarding expanded law school admission criteria and I am amazed (August). I am amazed that the process of considering the eight categories referred to in the article can somehow be a negative thing. I am amazed that he is not embarrassed to put his name on what appears to be a concern that these categories might diversify the bar.

Please don’t be afraid of diversity, it will only make the bar better. If we only allow people who score in the top of the LSAT with 4.0 GPA’s and go to the top 25 schools, you and I may not be practicing law.

Gregory J. Elvine-Kreis
Auburn

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