If you’ve been wondering what President Obama means by “empathy,” wonder no longer. The Chronicle of Higher Education makes it clear this morning, in “Supreme Court Nominee Was on the Side of Minorities in Key Cases.”
President Obama’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, has a relatively thin record on cases involving higher education. But in two decisions that could have implications for higher education, she has sided with members of minority groups—in one case supporting a government hiring policy that would benefit African-Americans, and in the other supporting an individual student who challenged a grading policy as discriminatory.
In a third case, Judge Sotomayor supported an individual’s right to file complaints against a university regardless of the merits of the suit.
For Mr. Obama, Judge Sotomayor’s stances might reflect the kind of empathy that he has said he is seeking in the next justice.
