The Supreme Court ruled Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.
New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said Monday in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.
The ruling could alter employment practices nationwide and make it harder to prove discrimination when there is no evidence it was intentional.
Meanwhile, the confirmation hearings for Judge Sotomayor are scheduled to being on July 13, one week after the Senate returns from its July 4 week long break. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Friday wrote a letter to the White House complaining that Sotomayor has not turned over all of the material requested by the panel.
There's more--specifically 300 boxes more. Sotomayor was a board member of the left- wing Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund, which favors affirmative action, among other things.
While appearing on Fox News Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), addressed that:
And with regard to Judge Sotomayor, I think the key is just to finish the job. For example, just a day or so ago, we discovered that there are 300 boxes of additional material that has just been discovered from her time working with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund.
But the Democrats want to use their "hurry up offense" to get Sotomayor confirmed--allowing less time for Senators to review her record than what was allowed for the two most recent Supreme Court nominees, Justice Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts.
Both men were George W. Bush appointees.
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