Ricci v. Sotomayor

What Are the Criteria for Protected Racial/Ethnic Groups?
By Michael P. Tremoglie
Tea Time Blog

The confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor was interesting in that it highlighted the inherent bigotry of the American left, its political representatives in the Democratic Party, it hypocrisy and its socio-political philosophy.

During the hearing, Judge Sotomayor was questioned about her opinion in the reverse discrimination case of Ricci v. DiStefano. An Italian-American firefighter was denied a promotion he earned via a civil service examination that was annulled.

The lawsuit against the city of New Haven, Connecticut by 18 firefighters alleged that they were denied promotions because of their race. One of them was Hispanic the rest were white. They all passed the test.

However, the city threw out the test results because none of the African-American applicants passed. African-American organizations had threatened legal action and protests. So the city officials discarded the test.

The firefighters sued. The lead plaintiff was Frank Ricci, an 11 year veteran.

Both the District Court and the Second Circuit Appeals Court ruled in favor of the city. Sotomayor was on of the three members of the Second Circuit who ruled in favor of the city. She also was one of the judges who denied a request for the whole Second Circuit to hear the case.

The Supreme Court subsequently heard the appeal by Ricci et al and reversed the other courts. Justice Ginsburg, who herself had questionable racial hiring practices, said that if the white firemen were promoted then the city’s blacks would be served by an all white fire department as it was in the days of segregation.

What Justice Ginsburg did not explain is what exactly the criteria are for a protected class of citizens. Are only blacks and women protected? What about Jews? They were discriminated against in the past.

Indeed, what about Frank Ricci’s ancestors? He’s of Italian descent.
Italians were discriminated against.

When my grandfather immigrated to the United States from Sicily one hundred years ago, he obtained a job at the Stetson Hat factory in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. This is the same company famous for its cowboy hats.

The reason he got the job was that being a “hatter” was not considered work suitable for a “white man.” It was dangerous work in the laborers were exposed to mercury poisoning. Many were afflicted by it - this how the expression “mad as a hatter” came about.

So certainly Italian-Americans, Jews, Native-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Japanese-Americans, Chinese-Americans, all sorts of immigrant ethnic and racial groups can be considered victims of one sort or another.

So why do liberals favor only certain racial/ethnic groups and genders?

Another manifestation was the attacking of Mr. Ricci by Sotomayor’s supporters.

As this case became an issue because of Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination, leftwing Democrats do what they always do – the began a smear campaign against a working class guy who just wanted to see justice done.

Democrats – who love to say they represent the average American – will vilify, slander and do anything they can to ruin anyone who gets in their way. The more “average” the person is, the easier it is to assassinate the person’s character.

The People for the American Way was anything but doing something the American way. Reports were that they urged newspapers to look into Mr. Ricci past employment history to find a controversial ruling.

The whole purpose was to discredit Ricci. They did not want to argue on the merits of the case or whether Sotomayor’s judicial philosophy was appropriate.

No, just engage in ad hominems.
The leftwing of the Democratic Party, the controlling faction of the party, did not distinguish itself in its behavior through the Sotomayor hearings. It revealed its true nature.

Predictably, Republicans refused to call attention to this.

Mike can be contacted at elfegobaca@comcast.net