Justice Sonia Sotomayor slammed a Texas prosecutor for a "racially charged" question. The case comes from a drug arrest in Texas, when the defendant Bongani Charles Calhounclaimed he did not know the group of men that gave him a ride were going to commit a drug deal.
The prosecutor asked the defendant, "You've got African Americans, you've got Hispanics, you've got a bag full of money. Does that tell you -- a light bulb doesn't go off in your head and say, 'This is a drug deal?"'
Justice Sotomayor along with Justice Stephen Breyer criticized the prosecutor and labeled his line of questioning as "pernicious in its attempt to substitute racial stereotypes for evidence, and racial prejudice for reason. It is deeply disappointing to see a representative of the United States resort to this base tactic more than a decade into the 21st century."
Although the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal, Justice Sotomayor did not want the prosecutor's statement to go untouched.
Justice Sotomayor continued to state, "by suggesting that race should play a role in establishing a defendant's criminal intent, the prosecutor here tapped a deep and sorry vein of racial prejudice that has run through the history of criminal justice in our nation." Sotomayor concluded, "I hope never to see a case like this again." And this, among many other reasons, is why we love Justice Sotomayor. Read more here.
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor appeared on Sesame Street and explained that being a princess is not a career. She described a career to the adorable Abby Cadabby as a job you train for and plan to do for a long time. Justice Sotomayor told Abby that she could have a career as a teacher, lawyer, a doctor, an engineer, a scientist...pretty much anything she wanted. In an age where women are finally allowed to wear pants and vote, it is a pity that media companies like Disney shove the concept of being a princess down the throats of young girls. SBW is still upset that Disney lumps Mulan into the Disney Princess category; she is a warrior! But Justice Sotomayor stepped up to the plate and defined a career as something more than passively waiting for your Prince Charming to arrive. This Sesame Street clip is particularly important since Harvard Law School and Princeton University graduate Michelle Obama would like to trade places with Beyonce. The Sotomayor clip is pretty darn cute too! (We'd like to see Justice Thomas acting with a puppet instead of acting as one.)
