A child of New York's public housing projects, raised — as was the president — by a single mother, Sotomayor excelled at Princeton and Yale Law School, and worked as a prosecutor and a corporate lawyer before ascending to the bench. Her life story is admirable, her credentials impeccable. Her ethnicity and gender only enhance her undeniable competency. In Sotomayor, a still-new president appears to have made a laudable choice for a still-new century.
Meanwhile in California
If anyone wants to turn back the clock and deny women the right to vote, or to reinstate slavery, he or she should hightail it to California. There, the state's Supreme Court effectively reversed itself by upholding a referendum that negated the court's earlier ruling granting same-sex couples the right to marry. In all, it was a shameful performance. It indeed would have taken courage for the California court to defy popular opinion. But even in a democracy — especially in a democracy — what should be a basic human right should not be denied to a minority of citizens by the intolerance of the majority.
Related:
California’s shame, California matters, A step forward, More 
- California’s shame
The politics of division as practiced by lame-duck president George W. Bush at the connivance of his onetime Svengali Karl Rove are not dead.
- California matters
For four years, and 10,000 same-sex nuptials, Massachusetts has had a monopoly on gay marriage in the United States.
- A step forward
The nation’s understandable preoccupation with the unfolding economic crisis has overshadowed a significant victory in the battle for same-sex marriage: the Connecticut Supreme Court, on October 10, ruled that gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry.
- Benign neglect?
If you are gay or lesbian, or if you care about realizing social justice, you must be wondering when Obama is going to turn his attention to the fact that one in 10 of the nation's more than 230 million adults are second-class citizens.
- Taking gay rights to Obama
You might have seen Chase Whiteside and Erick Stoll, seniors at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, around town in the days leading up to November 3.
- Considering Kagan
Elena Kagan, onetime dean of Harvard Law School and current US solicitor general, is a less than perfect candidate to sit on the Supreme Court.
- Straight talk
It’s been a very quiet spring for John McCain.
- Sotomayor's mixed message on free speech
Minutes after President Barack Obama announced that he was nominating appellate judge Sonia Sotomayor for the vacant seat on the Supreme Court, battle lines were drawn on the pre-scripted questions of "post-racial" America.
- Under attack
Recent decisions by President Barack Obama and Maine Governor John Baldacci have dampened progressive hopes that the Republican-inspired war on civil liberties might be winding down.
- Spare Change?
A tension lies at the heart of the Obama presidency. After 100 days in office, the public still seems uncertain how to interpret the historic nature of the election last November.
- Warming up to a green revolution
President Obama's push for a green revolution has inevitably drawn comparisons to President Kennedy's famous call, 48 years ago, for a moon landing.
- Less
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