Senate confirms openly lesbian judge

[Vampiel]

http://sdgln.com/news/2010/04/21/senate-confirms-openly-lesbian-judge



WASHINGTON – It took more than a year, but the Senate voted 66-32 late Tuesday to confirm the judicial nomination of Marisa Demeo, an openly lesbian judge.

The vote largely followed along partisan lines.

Republicans led by Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina had blocked confirmation since March 2009, when President Barack Obama nominated Demeo to the D.C. Superior Court.
DeMint held up the nomination largely because of the judge’s sexual orientation.

He told the National Law Journal in February that “A number of Republicans had concerns and asked me, as chairman of Steering, to ask for limited debate and a recorded vote because of a history of very leftist activism. There are just a number of things that don't look like a fair-and-balanced approach that you'd like in a judge.”

[sarabethv]

Why in the world does who she sleeps with have anything to do with her abilities as a judge?

[memnoch]

Why in the world does who she sleeps with have anything to do with her abilities as a judge?

I don't think they do, I think it has to do with the PC factor...like Obama being a black president, Sotomayor being the second hispanic (although first Latino, and first hispanic to make an issue of their race), ect. It is a matter of making it seem like she is special because she is gay.

I am curious to see her history and will be googleing her sooon.

[Terra Mater]

I don't think they do, I think it has to do with the PC factor...like Obama being a black president, Sotomayor being the second hispanic (although first Latino, and first hispanic to make an issue of their race), ect. It is a matter of making it seem like she is special because she is gay.

I am curious to see her history and will be googleing her sooon.
Post what you find. I could care less what or who she sleeps with, but I would love more about her credentials. I am sure I am not the only one.:thumbsup:

[memnoch]

Post what you find. I could care less what or who she sleeps with, but I would love more about her credentials. I am sure I am not the only one.:thumbsup:

The first thing I found on her was a bio listing that she is a former lobbyist and first became a magistrate judge in 2007, a position she has held since. So, with that in mind I would say her qualifications leave a lot to be desired. As for her decisions, she was a magistrate judge, she didn't have anything important to say. Her history is one of job hopping with her last job being the longest lasting at 3 years. It is safe to bet that she is a hardcore liberal, not just because of the fact she is gay and Obama's choice, but she won several awards while lobbying for the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund from groups like the hispanic bar association of D.C., the congressional black caucus, and the national puerto rican coalition.

[BryonMorrigan]

The first thing I found on her was a bio listing that she is a former lobbyist and first became a magistrate judge in 2007, a position she has held since. So, with that in mind I would say her qualifications leave a lot to be desired. As for her decisions, she was a magistrate judge, she didn't have anything important to say. Her history is one of job hopping with her last job being the longest lasting at 3 years. It is safe to bet that she is a hardcore liberal, not just because of the fact she is gay and Obama's choice, but she won several awards while lobbying for the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund from groups like the hispanic bar association of D.C., the congressional black caucus, and the national puerto rican coalition.

She served longer as a judge than Justice Roberts... Just sayin'...

Hey, look at the Conservatives that W managed to get into the Court. What? You think Obama isn't gonna put some Liberals in there when it's his turn? Especially when he's replacing a very Liberal outgoing Justice? I mean, W got both Roberts and (Sc)Alito onto the Court, with Alito replacing O'Connor. Replacing O'Connor with Alito changed the Court's makeup a lot more than this would be.

(BTW, I did find it ludicrous when Democrats were threatening filibusters during W's appointments as well. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Filibustering is the political version of the Waaaaahhhmbulance and is pretty much always wrong.)

[memnoch]

She served longer as a judge than Justice Roberts... Just sayin'...

Hey, look at the Conservatives that W managed to get into the Court. What? You think Obama isn't gonna put some Liberals in there when it's his turn? Especially when he's replacing a very Liberal outgoing Justice? I mean, W got both Roberts and (Sc)Alito onto the Court, with Alito replacing O'Connor. Replacing O'Connor with Alito changed the Court's makeup a lot more than this would be.

(BTW, I did find it ludicrous when Democrats were threatening filibusters during W's appointments as well. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Filibustering is the political version of the Waaaaahhhmbulance and is pretty much always wrong.)

I think the Roberts comparison is reasonable, although I would argue that he was more experienced getting the court of appeals appointment than she is in the fact that he had argued dozens of cases in the SCOTUS as well as a few years working for the SCOTUS. With that said Roberts probably wasn't the best choice. Oh, and Roberts wasn't a lobbyist. And I'm not surprised that she is liberal or that Obama would appoint a liberal, just stating that she is one. What we don't have with her however is any knowledge of how she views the law, primarily in the activist vs. interpreter aspect.

[Terra Mater]

Good points both of you. In short, she's not the worst choice they could have made, but she's not exactly the best choice either. This could lead a person to think that her appointment was sort of a LGBT affirmative action choice. Interesting, the more we learn, the more questions we have.

Thanks for the info, let me know if you find anything else.

[memnoch]

Good points both of you. In short, she's not the worst choice they could have made, but she's not exactly the best choice either. This could lead a person to think that her appointment was sort of a LGBT affirmative action choice. Interesting, the more we learn, the more questions we have.

Thanks for the info, let me know if you find anything else.

I haven't found much more than her bio...it is hard to find info on someone so green. I think it is a "safe" controversial nomination because she is so green. Some will be up in arms about her being gay, and that will take the attention away from experience, and anyone attacking her experience will be called homophobes. In short, while it is unlikely I will like many, if any, of Obama's court picks, I do respect the strategy in this one.