Sotomayor: Not the Write Stuff?
Posted on June 4th, 2009
Stephanie Mencimer, writing for Mother Jones, zeroes in on what could be a tragic flaw in Obama’s first Supreme Court selection: Sonia Sotomayor’s lack of writing skills. Mencimer writes: As a Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor has a lot going for her: a stellar judicial record, a Yale Law School pedigree, a compelling personal history, and more trial experience than any other sitting justice. But while she’s clearly a bright and talented lawyer, she unfortunately lacks one of the key qualities of a successful Supreme Court justice: writing skills. To put it bluntly, Sotomayor doesn’t write very well. Reporters have sort of danced around this problem. The New York Times‘ Adam Liptak charitably described her opinions as models of judicial craftsmanship that are “not…