Gordon Stewart, the pastor of Shepherd of the Hill in Chaska wrote this op-ed in the MinnPost, the an online newspaper. Please note, that the views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area.
Empathy and law, life experience and the judge’s bench. Are they oil and water, or are they the necessary complements that make for a greater approximation of justice?
The question has been raised whether Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s experience and a sense of empathy will impair her ability to render judicial decisions based solely on the law. Those who insist on keeping her Latina experience out of judicial considerations learned well what law-school professors tell their first-year students to dampen any idealistic expectations: that the law is about the law, not about justice.
Empathy and the bench: It’s all about the spirit of the law
By admin on June 3, 2009
Gordon Stewart, the pastor of Shepherd of the Hill in Chaska wrote this op-ed in the MinnPost, the an online newspaper. Please note, that the views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area.
Empathy and law, life experience and the judge’s bench. Are they oil and water, or are they the necessary complements that make for a greater approximation of justice?
The question has been raised whether Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s experience and a sense of empathy will impair her ability to render judicial decisions based solely on the law. Those who insist on keeping her Latina experience out of judicial considerations learned well what law-school professors tell their first-year students to dampen any idealistic expectations: that the law is about the law, not about justice.
Continue reading at MinnPost.
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