June 3. 2009

Judge Sonia Sotomayor

In a somewhat controversial free speech case, President Barack Obama's pick for the Supreme Court, judge Sonya Sotomayor, ruled against a teenager that referred to her high school superintendents as "do**he bags" on her blog, for cancelling a school concert she arranged.

The teen's speech should have been covered by the U.S. Constitution, but she was penalized for it via expulsion. Judge Sotomayor ruled the court and three judge panel could not get involved in the case unless, "Violations of specific constitutional guarantees” occurred. But they did, as her right to free speech was violated.

If appointed to the Supreme Court, Judge Sotomayor must let the Constitution be the basis for her legal decisions, when cases such as the aforementioned one is presented to her.   

Sotomayor Ruled in "D-Bag Case"

Updated 12:16 PM EDT, Thu, May 28, 2009 - Ruled teen's blog post created a created "foreseeable risk of substantial disruption." Federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor was named by U.S. President Barack Obama as his choice to replace retiring Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court.

President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill a Supreme Court vacancy has yet another tie to Connecticut. She sided against a student in the infamous “douche bag” case, and that has upset some free-speech advocates.

In August 2007, Judge Sonia Sotomayor sat on a panel that ruled against an appeal in Doninger v. Niehoff.

Avery Doninger was disqualified from running for school government at Lewis S. Mills High School in Burlington after she posted something on her blog, referring to the superintendent and other officials as "dou**e bags" because they canceled a battle of the bands she had helped to organize.

The case went to court and in March 2008, Sotomayor was on a panel that heard Doninger’s mother’s appeal alleging her daughter’s free speech and other rights were violated. Her mother wanted to prevent the school from barring her daughter from running...

As the Supreme Court cautioned years ago, “[t]he system of public education that has evolved in this Nation relies necessarily upon the discretion and judgment of school administrators and school board members,” and we are not authorized to intervene absent “violations of specific constitutional guarantees.”

The ruling in this case has come under heavy criticism from some civil libertarians. Some say this case presents a solid rationale for rejecting Judge Sonia Sotomayor of New York’s Second Circuit Court of Appeals to fill the seat of retiring Justice David Souter...

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com