Referees, Umpires, And Supreme Court Justices

In sporting events there are referees, umpires, and judges.  These men and women who act as arbitrators, enforcers, and keepers of the rules of the game act and make their decisions based only upon the rules.  I’ve never seen a football game where the referees used “empathy” to call the game. (Well, I’ve seen games where I thought the refs were incompetent, but that’s another matter.)

The umpire calls balls and strikes, no matter the skin color, religion, or economic status of the batter.  He calls them as he sees them, within the careful guidelines laid out for everybody to follow.  The referee calls an offside penalty in a football game without any thought whatsoever to the “underdog” status of one of the teams.

Can you imagine watching baseball, football, basketball, tennis, golf, or any sport knowing that the rules would be adjusted for the individual teams playing?  How much fun would it be to watch a football game knowing in advance that because one of the teams was heavily outmatched by the other the refs were going to apply the rules with “empathy?”

As “unfair” as it may seem to liberal sports fans, a game has rules for a reason, which is to make the playing field fair to both parties.  One party might be more talented, or bigger, or stronger than the other, but the rules stay the same for all.  Sometimes a team wins to everyone’s surprise, for various reasons.  But when they do, it is because on that day on that field, they played the game better, not because the referees had empathy for them.

Our Constitution is our set of rules.  Obama believes in having our judges rule not by law, but by empathy.  And apparently, his pick for the next vacancy on the Supreme Court, federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor, shares that belief.

“I simply do not know exactly what the difference will be in my judging,” she said in a speech in 2002. “But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage.” (CNSNews.com)

I expect that she will be confirmed.  I hope that she will prove me wrong in my perfunctory assessment of her.  I hope that when she takes the oath of office as a new Supreme Court justice, she will take the words to heart.

“I, [NAME], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as [TITLE] under the Constitution and laws of the United States. So help me God.”

[inspired by a comment by Neil Cavuto]

Tagged as: Barack Obama, Constitution, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court