Are you as sick of this one as we are? The drug-addled gasbag Limbaugh has been pushing this one for months, but it's even more appalling when someone sitting in the Senate is this stupid.
According to the right wing BS machine, Judge Sotomayor is somehow not qualified to sit on the Supreme Court, because 3 of the 5 cases she wrote, that were ruled on by the Supremes were overturned. Some even exaggerate that number, such as Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, who's just become an embarrassment:
“Some people will suggest that we shouldn’t read too much into Judge Sotomayor’s speeches and articles, that the focus should instead be on her judicial decisions. I agree that her judicial record is an important component of our evaluation, and I look forward to hearing why, for instance, the Supreme Court has reversed or vacated 80% of her opinions that have reached that body, by a total vote count of 52 to 19.”
According to the right wing BS machine, Judge Sotomayor is somehow not qualified to sit on the Supreme Court, because 3 of the 5 cases she wrote, that were ruled on by the Supremes were overturned. Some even exaggerate that number, such as Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, who's just become an embarrassment:
“Some people will suggest that we shouldn’t read too much into Judge Sotomayor’s speeches and articles, that the focus should instead be on her judicial decisions. I agree that her judicial record is an important component of our evaluation, and I look forward to hearing why, for instance, the Supreme Court has reversed or vacated 80% of her opinions that have reached that body, by a total vote count of 52 to 19.”
Okay, the ignorance this displays is appalling. I'm sorry, but I'm putting part of this on Social Studies teachers. You cannot pass someone from Middle School to High School who is this bleeding ignorant about how the Supreme Court works. But for a United States Senator to say something this stupid? This is just embarrassing.
The Supreme Court is the last appellate court in the line, okay? Judge Sotomayor was on the Court of Appeals, which is right below that. The Courts of Appeal hear and rule on thousands of cases every year. And most of those cases are appealed further, to the Supreme Court.
Now, pay attention, Senator Kyl, because you need to understand this. You're a goddamn United States Senator, not a drug addled gasbag radio talk show host.
The Supreme Court looks over all of the cases that they are asked to look at, and MOST of those cases are rejected. A check of LexisNexis shows 235 cases authored by Judge Sotomayor. The Supreme Court has only reviewed five of them. This is important.
You see, the Supreme Court looks at every case that's appealed to it. and most cases are appealed to it. The Supremes then evaluate the cases, and only take the ones in which there is a compelling reason to rule. They vote, and the "Rule of Four" determines whether they place a case on the docket. What that means is, if four Justices decide there is a compelling rule of law to decide in the case, then they grant certiorari and listen to arguments in the case.
Got that Kyl? She wrote opinions in 235 cases, and the Supremes were satisfied enough with 230 of them to not even hear the appeal. Therefore, you idiot, she's written rulings on 235 cases (I'm only counting the ones she wrote; the real number of pertinent cases is probably in the thousands), and been reversed on THREE. I'm sure you're no better at math than social studies, so I'll do it for you; she's been overturned by the Supreme Court 1.2765% of the time, not EIGHTY.
Facts to a right winger are like garlic to a vampire...
Jon Kyl... PCTC's Right Wing Idiot of the DAY!!!
