The Nexus of Life and Law

I was acquainted with Clarence Thomas in the summer of 1991 because I had interviewed him as chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But when George H.W. Bush introduced him to the American public, the president didn't stress his government service.

"Judge Thomas's life is a model for all Americans, and he's earned the right to sit on this nation's highest court," Bush said. Bob Dole, the Senate majority leader, called Thomas "a man whose very life exemplifies the American dream."

Thomas himself played up his journey from Pin Point, Ga., and how he was sent to live with a grandfather after his dad left the family, the first time he had lived in a house with indoor plumbing and eaten three solid meals a day. "As a child I could not dare dream that I would ever see the Supreme Court, not to mention be nominated to it," Thomas said. "Only in America could this have been possible."

In that period before anyone had heard of Anita Hill, Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch warned Thomas's opponents: "Anyone who takes him on on the subject of civil rights is taking on the grandson of a sharecropper . . . because that person wants quotas and preferential treatment."

In short, the Republicans weren't shy about exploiting Thomas's life story and minority status. Today, of course, some Republicans and conservatives are accusing President Obama of playing identity politics by choosing the first Latina for the high court.

I don't blame Thomas's supporters for trumpeting his tale as a black man who rose from poverty, and Sonia Sotomayor and her allies are equally justified in touting her rise as a Puerto Rican raised by a single mother in South Bronx housing projects.

But Sotomayor's admirable life story and Hispanic heritage shouldn't stop those who disagree with her legal views from trying to defeat her. Thomas's detractors, including the nation's top civil rights organizations, certainly didn't let his race or background deter them from attempting to torpedo his nomination.

Personal experience matters, and anyone who disputes that is being disingenuous. And it should matter. Otherwise we could have computers settle our legal disputes. Your parents, your neighborhood, your gender and ethnicity, affect the way you view the world. Judges are bound by oath to interpret the law fairly and even-handedly, but they can't divorce themselves from the real world. One culture in America produced Dred Scott, and a very different culture made possible Brown v. Board of Ed.

But nominees ought to be held to the same high standard whether they're white, black or brown, whether they grew up rich or without indoor plumbing.

These issues echo throughout the debate over Sotomayor.

National Reviewlaments that gender and ethnicity may carry the day:

"Judge Sonia Sotomayor is female, Hispanic, liberal, and mediocre. Conservatives should draw attention to the third adjective while understanding that the first two are likely to be politically decisive during her confirmation hearings.