RSSSonia Sotomayor and technology: What we know so far
By Angela Gunn | Published May 27, 2009, 7:43 AM
President Obama stepped around two Silicon Valley-area judges to nominate Sonia Sotomayor for the open Supreme Court post. What might the tech world expect from the Bronx-born, Ivy-educated, baseball-saving justice?
Say "Hmm," contractors. A lot of freelancers know the centrist Sotomayor best from NY Times Company v. Tasini, in which a large group of freelance writers sued the Times for putting their articles into LexisNexis without further permission or compensation.
Sotomayor, a district judge at the time, ruled in favor of the Times based on her interpretation of the Copyright Act of 1975. The decision was reversed on appeal and the reversal was upheld by the Supremes -- a win for the contractors, but not from Sotomayor. (Justice David Souter, whom Sotomayor is nominated to succeed, voted in the majority on that decision.)
Copyright and trademark law spoken here. In the private sector, Sotomayor worked at New York's Pavia & Harcourt, where she was a top intellectual property litigator. New Yorkers of a certain age may remember the "Fendi Crush," in which the law firm very publicly tossed thousands of illegal knockoffs of shoes, handbags and the like into garbage trucks to demonstrate the sheer volume of counterfeit goods clogging the market. Sotomayor wasn't just the lead litigator on that project; according to a partner at her former firm, she was known to put on a Kevlar vest and accompany law enforcement on seizures of the fake goods.
A First Amendment friend. She hasn't tackled a ton of such cases in her 18-year judicial career, but for those who remember the Vincent Foster suicide back during the Clinton Administration, Sotomayor was the judge who ruled in Dow Jones v. Department of Justice that The Wall Street Journal should be allowed to see and publish a copy of the former White House counsel's suicide note, stating that the public had "a substantial interest" in knowing what was on that unfortunate man's mind. And in a case concerning an NYPD desk jockey who mailed out racist materials, Sotomayor ruled (in a dissent from her colleagues) that the creep was protected by the First Amendment, since he was doing his thing on his own time and wasn't a representative in any important way of the department.
Not a privacy absolutist. On the other hand, a Department of Transportation employee whose employer searched his office computer did not have a reasonable Fourth Amendment claim. In a ruling she made while on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Sotomayor held that the employee -- whose machine was searched after he habitually came in late, blew off work, and spent time on the clock chatting with other employees about computers -- may have had a "reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of his office computer." Nevertheless, she concluded the search was permissible since it was focused to reveal signs of public-sector employee misconduct. Elsewhere, in US v. Howard, she ruled that state troopers are permitted to lure suspects away from their vehicles in order to search them for drugs.
Practical thinking solves problems. Two words: Baseball strike. Like most fans, your reporter truly believes that the strike of 1994-95 was on its way to being lethal for the sport; in fact, we're still feeling its effects today as we wade out of the steroids era. (If the strike hadn't critically damaged fan interest in the game, perhaps Bud Selig and his ilk would have been less likely to look the other way when Sosa and McGwire turned themselves into parade balloons. Just saying.) Her injunction decision forbidding management to unilaterally implement a collective bargaining "agreement," handed down in just 15 minutes, cleared the deck and got the game back on track.
Readers interested in Judge Sotomayor's appellate record, in which she's handed down over 150 opinions (including two that have been, as you may have heard, reversed by the Supremes), are enthusiastically directed to ScotusBlog's fine overview, published earlier this month. The lengthy analysis is based on a summer-long project undertaken by a team of Akin Gump summer associates last year.
"A lot of freelancers know the centrist Sotomayor best from..." what? Sotomayor is as far left as a judge can legally be...better yet she legislates from the bench and interprets the law based on her "latina woman" experience instead of what the Constitution actually says. Judges are supposed to be impartial, while i dont think anyone who's looked at Sotomayor's own words, statements, and ruling opinions that she's as biased as judges come on any level.
She disputes OConner's statements that a wise old man and wise old woman will come to the same conclusion (paraphrasing) and says that she'd think a wise latina woman would come to a "better" decision than a white male (also paraphrased but not far from her original words). what does race have to do with law? law is set in stone and there should be very little leeway in its interpretation. also, interpretation of laws should be based on the Constitution itself and precedent, not from a "latina woman('s)" experiences.
forgot to mention...Obama believes in the Constitution as a living document, which is directly opposite of the Founding Father's intentions. Franklin, Jefferson, and others integral in the writing and passing of the document directly wrote there intentions for it to be taken as stated and not to change with the growing whims of society. We all knew Obama was going to choose a Living Document Leftist, but Sotomayor is borderline whacko about her heritage relating to her court decisions, which i think should disqualify her as a judge on any level, let alone Supreme Court.
Score: 0
|To "Bill Gates" and " lazarus98":
This is a perfect forum to discuss politics, and its potential impact on technology. Specifically, software copyright.
A simple review of who President Obama has chosen for key positions will spark hours of debate alone:
Joe Biden, Vice-President.
Avid and vocal supporter of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The RIAA, as you may recall, took-down Napster and sued a 12 year old little girl for downloading MP3's.
Tom Perrelli, Associate Attorney General.
Mr. Perrelli, a top-notch, formidable DC copyright attorney, represented the RIAA on several of their cases. He was also honored as 2008's Best Intellectual Property Attorney by the Washington Business Journal.
Neil MacBride, Associate Deputy Attorney General for the United States.
Mr. MacBride, also a formidable copyright attorney, comes from the Business Software Alliance (BSA), as their Vice President of Anti-Piracy and General Counsel.
Generally speaking, it was a very "liberal" mindset that overwhelmingly voted President Obama into office. The same "liberal" mindsets tend to be a bit more "open minded" on issues pertaining to copyright enforcement. I have a feeling, over the next few years... there are going to be several "copyleft" individuals, who are shocked at the storm that is brewing in the distance... especially since they voted for the man who is orchestrating it all.
So to say "politics" has no place on BetaNews... its simply naive, narrow minded and shortsighted, at best.
I think writers like Ms. Gunn, should be writing more about tech-related-politics... not less.
G.C. Hutson
Chief Executive and President
Sadien Intellectual Property, Inc.
http://www.sadien.com
Score: 2
|Saiden, there is no quarrel with Ms Gunn’s writing abilities. Angela’s writing is very informative and well thought. As to stating that I'm naive about having a viable Political Tech forum here at BetaNews is really only perspective. I for one preferred when it was based more on tech than opinion and would wish it to stay so, but I do believe that it's a foregone conclusion that’s its growing up and with that growth the character of it also changes. Not that much different than your kids I guess. My dislike of the change in format is only an opinion and obviously, I’m not in a position to dictate anything to forestall that. So goes as you may and believe what you will.
Score: 1
|so what? no one is perfect.
but i think this is a new era where the white republican males are having to deal with taking the back seat.
i am pro choice, pro woman-hood, equal pay and pro diversification.
unlike john roberts who is republican and now believed to have been untruthful to congress during his confirmation hearings about his inherent prejudices "and" the disdain and dismay he displayed when he couldn't swear in obama as president and unlike scalia, who is republican and a hypocrite;
i think presidents obama's choice for the next justice is exactly the one that is needed to offset a descending supreme court.
the bottom line is that how can we as a country progress technology if we cannot overcome the prejudices that retrogress any advancements?
Score: 0
|Keep this kind of politics out of betanews. This is not your expertise and should be discussed instead by you and your pals at the pub after work. Case Closed.
Score: 0
|funny since the bill gates of microsoft believes in freedom of speech.
but since you are not, then why not use your pretend money and pretend to make a bid to buy beta news?
then you can choose what can or cannot be published.
Score: 0
|Mr, Gates if your refering to me, you would be incorrect as this is my expertise. But I agree that this is not a topic that should be seen in BetaNews and should be elsewhere unless BetaNews is trying to be other than BetaNews, which at this point, we all assume they are.
Score: 0
|No, I’m not buying into this one. I've followed her courts cases for more than a few years now, as law/politics and IT are something of a career for me. Granted she does have a mind of her own and she is not a fanatical leftist, but I still would hardly put her in the center of political views. Many of her rulings clearly indicate that she has a bent towards liberal views than conservative ones. Not that that’s bad, but she clearly rules more from feelings and empathy than pure law. Many of her peers have attested to that over the years.
Score: 2
|"Many of her peers" -- is this like "all of the blogs" from the last comment? If you're got something to contribute concerning how she might rule on the various tech issues she might see in the next few years, especially if you really do have "something of a career" in law and IT, marvelous -- bring your thoughts, with specifics. There are plenty of other venues online to opine without specifics!
Again: SPECIFICS. Sotomayor has a serious background in IP law; I knew the Fendi stories pretty well but I'm eager to hear more. She's relatively untested on First Amendment cases, though the NYPD case was pretty eyecatching; anything anyone's missed on that front? Legal analysts who DO work in specifics describe her published opinions as in the main "marked by diligence, depth and unflashy competence" (http://www.nytimes.com/2...s/politics/27judge.html -- I would have gone with "workmanlike prose" myself, but I'm spoiled by the Ninth Circuit's writing); what's that mean when it comes to some of the cases near to geekish hearts?
I'm not even going to bother with the chimps who don't understand how such matters affect tech. (I may chase them off the porch with a rolled-up copy of Eldred v Ashcroft, but that's a mental image for another time.) You, however, appear to be capable of better. Deliver.
Score: 0
|I really dislike cut and paste. No specifics, just something I find annoying.
The fact that you state that you are spoiled by the 9th circuits writing says a lot. I’ll assume (dangerously) that you are of a liberal bent, so I doubt that we will ever come to much concordance in issues, as I am conservative (not republican).
As for specifics, she has ruled well in many instances, at least to my boorish viewpoint. But she does tend to falter when it comes to social views as opposed to the law.
Specifically: Riverkeeper v. EPA which is of a TECH nature. Her finding in that was ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court. Her decision did not bother to take into consideration the cost involved and would lead to enormous cost to consumers.
Didden v. Village of Port Chester: another baffling decision, she actually upheld that extortion was ok in that one.
Score: 2
|@angelagunn
i agree that the advancement of technology or its suppression ultimately depends on the verdict by the supreme court.
there are many facets that can be argued and debated on the role judges have with either suppressing technology or advancing it,
for everyone or just for the few.
the concern that i have with are so-called advanced society is that conservative moralists right wing federalists/republicans would choose to depress it or attempt to control it for personal financial gain;
while liberals and democrates would do the opposite because it is for the greater good.
just imagine if during the old days there was some idea by the conservative moralists that one day limitless pornogrophy could be ascertained via the pc.
we can all rest assured that personal computers would have sufferred a set back "and" a conservative supreme court would have ban the creation of personal computers because from their perspective it would be for the greater good of this country.
Score: 0
|@DatabaseBen
I agree with you that the courts will ultimately make the decisions as to how Tech may go, but I your lumping to much together when you say:
“the concern that i have with are so-called advanced society is that conservative moralists right wing federalists/republicans would choose to depress it or attempt to control it for personal financial gain; while liberals and democrates would do the opposite because it is for the greater good.”
Making money off of Tech is neither a left or right issue. It’s done by both sides equally. In fact if you look into where most of the money is in technology, you will find that many of the top tier of executives in the country dealing with tech are Democrats.
I, being a conservative love technology and don’t fear it. The difference that you make between the left and right are ones of philosophy not of money.
I think that many politicians approach the making of laws on Tech or any other issue out of outright bargaining with “concerned parties” lobbyist, and don’t have a clue what the Tech really is or how it affects anything.
So many decisions on Technology are based on ignorance/whim and money that it boggles the mind, and have little to do with Left/Right issues.
The Supreme Court as been considered conservative for most of the time the internet has existed and the entire time they have upheld the 1st amendment.
Score: 0
|@lazarus98 05/28 - 12:20
great question you posed to me.
but i'm going to allow you to have the last word because i fear this can be a long long discussion otherwise..
i'm glad that we found common ground. we should all be so lucky if congress did the same ;)
Score: 0
|"A lot of freelancers know the centrist Sotomayor best from NY" Now thats a fair stretch of creative writing that she would be considered a centrist. Look at her record somewhat closer rather than regurgitating the simplified things that are in every other blog...
Score: -1
|Leave the political blogs by the roadside on this one, Lazarus, and go with the nonpartisan ScotusBlog (link at end of article). Their annotated list of her significant decisions is far more informed than any of the ranting I've seen out there in "every other blog" -- by which you mean blogs of the extreme right and extreme left; I found enough of that heaving dreck during the research process yesterday. The Akin Gump research was done loooong before the ready-fire-aim crowd started their babbling yesterday and is full of nutritious facts and data, as is the blog in toto. Highly recommended.
Score: 1
|