Justice Sotomayor’s first oral argument as a sitting Supreme Court Justice is this morning. Surely, people will be watching to see how well she holds her own amongst the Scalias, Robertses, and Ginsburgs of the Court.
But the real question we propose today may not be answered for years — will the presence of a second person of color on the bench alter the Court in some significant fashion? We think it will.
Consider that the only person of color on the Court is Justice Thomas. While we’re not here to insult him, even he must acknowledge that his views on race deviate in significant ways from the good majority of American people of color. In other words, the Supreme Court’s white Justices have not had anyone in their midst who speaks from the point of view of most people of color.
Justice Scalia and others have said that Thurgood Marshall’s views on race informed the remainder of the Court, even if he spent his final years on the bench largely in dissent. It has been since the early 1990s since anyone has taken up the mantle of Justice Marshall to inform the Court’s judgment on race. We expect Justice Sotomayor, in some singificant if subtle ways, to do this. One can only imagine Justice Sotomayor’s take on the Voting Rights Act case from last Term in conference, when the only other person of color in the room was advocating for its complete evisceration.
The Roberts Court seems to be concerned about the change in membership on the Court more than usual, if the C-SPAN interviews are any indication. For the first time in almost two decades, there may be a Justice who will speak truth to power in the race context. These are exciting times.
Turtle Talk 