In Brief: The Importance of Empathy

When President Obama nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor to serve as a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, he talked not only about her broad legal experience and distinguished career, but also about the importance of empathy — the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes and to see legal problems from the point of view of the people who are affected by them. As civil rights advocates, we know how important this is. Lambda Legal brings cases on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and people with HIV who have faced discrimination. Some have been fired or denied a job; others have been refused medical treatment or have had custody of their children taken away because of their sexual orientation or HIV status. The judges who hear their cases don’t always have personal knowledge about these kinds of injustices, but we hope they will have enough empathy to understand the unfairness and harm caused by them. And they must be ready to uphold the law.

Lambda Legal does not make endorsements of individual candidates for judgeships. Because we fight for justice by making the case for equality in state and federal courts, we cannot appear to be helping to seat the very judges before whom we will bring cases that affect the lives of LGBT people across the country. We rely on judges and a judicial system that are fair, unbiased and independent of political pressures. And we expect all judges, regardless of their personal or political leanings, to render decisions that uphold the constitution and the law.

We also do our homework so we can speak up when any nominee appears to have a record of bias or an inability to rule fairly. If we see evidence that a nominee holds stereotyped or prejudiced views of LGBT people or people with HIV, or lack of respect for the laws protecting civil rights, we will say so and oppose their nomination.

We explained the four criteria we think are most important in a letter to the president and in other communications with the White House and the Senate Judiciary Committee:

• demonstrated ability to rule fairly and impartially in cases involving LGBT and HIV issues;
  
• willingness and ability to uphold the principles of equality in the Constitution and to protect personal freedoms for everyone in America, not just a select few;
  
• respect for several Supreme Court precedents involving the right to privacy, disability rights particularly related to HIV status, and issues of discrimination based on sexual orientation and sex stereotyping;
  
• nominees who reflect the nation’s diversity, in particular “out” LGBT people, women and people of color.

Based on what we know about Judge Sotomayor, we believe she meets these criteria and has excellent credentials to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. She has been criticized by some for her leadership in civil rights organizations advocating for the Latina/o community. That criticism is foolish. Working hard to promote equality in our country is an honorable and necessary task. At Lambda Legal, we do it every day and we commend Judge Sotomayor for doing her part.

The federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court are at the beginning of a new chapter President Obama and the Senate have a crucial task ahead: When the president took office, there were 54 vacant federal judgeships to fill and more will come over time. For example, President Bush appointed more than 300 federal judges during his two terms in office.

At Lambda Legal, we know how vital it is for our community and our nation to have a fair and impartial judiciary and our Fair Courts Project provides tools and information to help all of us speak up and take action. The fight for LGBT equality depends on it.