Show some empathy for Frank Ricci.

This week begins the hearings of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Monday was pretty much saturated with Senators making mindless monologues. But now we're getting into the question-and-answer part. I'm interested most of all in the case of Frank Ricci. If you're unfa-miliar to the case, Frank Ricci is a fireman in New Haven, Connecticut. He took a standard test in his department to see if he could be promoted. He studied extra hard for the test because he suf-fers from dyslexia, a very serious learning disability. He hired a tudor a spent extra time and money for the test. Frank Ricci passed the test as did many of his fellow firemen. Yet the city threw out the results of the 20 firemen who passed. Their crime: 19 were white, one was His-panic. Not one black passed the test.

The firefighters who passed the test sued the city. The case went to the 2nd Curcuit Court of
Appeals (of which Sotomayor was a member). The 2nd Curcuit ruled in favor of the city, inclu-ding Sotomayor. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned the 2nd Curcuit's decision 5-4. Now Sonia Sotomayor is waiting to be confirmed to the highest court in the land.

Sotomayor has said that she wants to show empathy as a judge, but there's a huge difference between empathy and justice. Empathy is relating to another person's emotions and feelings. Justice is about applying the law. She thought it was alright for the city of New Haven to throw out the results of the test because she showed 'empathy' to the blacks who failed the test. Yet she showed absolutely no empathy for a man who overcame a learning disability. You would think that America of all places on earth would reward those who overcome adversity, but not Sotomayor. What was the use of all those firemen working long hours to pass a test if bureau-
crats could toss out the results? People talk about racism all the time, but what about sticking up for those with learning disabilities? Is that too much to ask? I would've hoped that Sotomayor
could've shown some empathy for Frank Ricci.

G.J. LaRouche, 14 July 2009