Thank you for bringing this subject to the forefront, but I would not be so astonished had I not read “The Ominous Parallels” just yesterday. I believe she is correct in saying cultural upbringing can instill a different type of logic and reasoning, like one that denies the Law of dentity. I think the “The Ominous Parallels” is great example of the importance of reason based on identity. Sotomyor is attacking identity in justice. Subjective Latina women truth vs White Male truth.

“Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences, a possibility I abhor less or discount less than my colleague Judge Cedarbaum, our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging. Justice O’Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases. I am not so sure Justice O’Connor is the author of that line since Professor Resnik attributes that line to Supreme Court Justice Coyle. I am also not so sure that I agree with the statement. First, as Professor Martha Minnow has noted, there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”

“The Ominous Parralels” p. 64
Racial Subjectivism holds that a man’s inborn racial constitution determines his mental processes, his intellectual outlook, his thought patterns, his feelings, his conclusions— and that these conclusions, however well established, are valid only for members of a given race, who share the same underlying constitution. “Knowledge and truth,” one Nazi explains, “are peculiarities originating in definite forms of consciousness, and hence attuned exclusively to the specific essence of their mother-consciousness.” On this view, each race created its own truth…”

I thought this comparison might make a great Objective Standard article if it is not a stretch. I’ve only read the NYT article.

Anyway, it is always insightful and a pleasure to read your work. Especially the piece on Holmes.

Mark Dohle

I greatly valued your piece in The Objective Standard, “Justice Holmes and the Empty Constitution”. I thank you for it.

John Rearden
Ocala, Florida

P.S. At my blog (http://anactivemind.johnrearden.com) you can find a recent, very brief entry on Sotomayor that you may enjoy. Be well.