Tuesday, Jun. 02, 2009

Welcome to the Olde Boys Club, Judge Sotomayor

By Ken Robertson, Herald Executive Editor

When President Barack Obama announced his choice for the pending U.S. Supreme Court vacancy, he touted Judge Sonia Sotomayor as someone who has “an understanding of how the world works and how ordinary people live.”

And in the past week she’s been praised for offering a point of view the nation’s highest court has never had before — that of a Hispanic woman. True enough.

But what she won’t bring to the court is a diversity in her legal background. She has the same Ivy League legal education, the resulting legal point of view and legal background as seven sitting justices and as the man she’s picked to replace, Justice David Souter.

And what would that be?

If confirmed, Sotomayor will become the eighth sitting Supreme Court justice who attended either Harvard Law School or its counterpart at Yale. Whatever else she might be, she’s a member of Ivy League legal — the oldest of the olde boys (and girls) clubs.

Six of the sitting justices attended Harvard law and five of the six graduated from there. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg attended Harvard law for two years, then completed her law degree at Columbia Law School.

In fact, the only justice without a tie to Harvard or Yale will be John Paul Stevens, a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law. Seven of the J.D. and LL.B. degrees hanging in the justices’ chambers have Harvard or Yale crests on them.

Although the American Bar Association’s website says there are 200 accredited law schools in the United States, our nation’s highest court has and will have graduates from only four schools, counting Columbia’s supporting role in educating Justice Ginsberg.

While Obama may have campaigned for “change,” his court nominee’s legal education is just more of the same.

w Ken Robertson: 582-1520; krobertson@tricityherald.com

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