Comments on: Sotomayor’s Student Free Speech Ruling: The Nitty Gritty

By: Paul Levinson

Paul Levinson — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 23:37:58 +0000

I can agree with that.

Meanwhile, I see I mindlessly typed a double negative in my comment above – should read “she lacked sufficient” not “she lacked insufficient”…

Good thing I didn’t comment on the specific text of the decision :)

By: Paul Levinson

Paul Levinson — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 23:35:27 +0000

Avery Doninger is a she. And what Sotomayor’s decision should serve as a warning about is the danger of getting a Souter-in-reverse on the Supreme Court.

By: Twin XL

Twin XL — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:23:29 +0000

This should serve as a warning to everyone- be careful of what you post online. Doniger posted the concert was cancelled- within a few days it was rescheduled. Ok, so he was mad. Two weeks later the post is still there, for school administrators to read. And BONUS- they get called douchebags… seriously, did he think his life wouldn’t be miserable after that? Serves him right.

By: Antique Western U.S. Map wallpaper, The Right Seems Completely Unaware of the History of the SCOTUS « The Long Goodbye

Thu, 28 May 2009 17:10:55 +0000

[...] genuinely interesting post on Sotomayor’s decision on student free speech. Sotomayor’s Student Free Speech Ruling: The Nitty Gritty The principal learned of Doninger’s blogpost two weeks after it went up, and punished Doninger [...]

By: One and Four » Blog Archive » Two Youth Rights Views on Sonia Sotomayor

Wed, 27 May 2009 14:33:12 +0000

[...] —————————————————————- Sotomayor’s Student Free Speech Ruling: The Nitty Gritty [...]

By: National Youth Rights Association - Age of Reason: the NYRA Blog

National Youth Rights Association - Age of Reason: the NYRA Blog — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:32:16 +0000

[...] —————————————————————- Sotomayor’s Student Free Speech Ruling: The Nitty Gritty [...]

By: In the Pink: Texas Monthly

In the Pink: Texas Monthly — Tue, 26 May 2009 20:09:03 +0000

[...] some free speech advocates are grumbling about Sotomayor’s nomination. This stems from a case back in 2007 when a high school student in Connecticut called the principal and the administration [...]

By: Angus Johnston

Angus Johnston — Tue, 26 May 2009 12:57:36 +0000

Do I like this ruling? No. But it’s consistent with Supreme Court precedent, and its grounded in a lower court finding that Doninger lied about the cancellation of Jamfest.

Certainly this decision isn’t evidence that Sotomayor is one of the good guys when it comes to students’ rights, but is it evidence that she’s one of the bad guys? I’m not convinced.

At this point, I guess we’ve both got to hope that I’m right and you’re wrong.

By: Paul Levinson

Paul Levinson — Sun, 24 May 2009 18:52:26 +0000

“I don’t think it’s necessarily useful to act as if she bears responsiblilty for every detail and nuance of the decision.”

Just to be clear: my point is that it doesn’t matter whether she’s responsible for “every detail and nuance”. What counts is that she didn’t oppose this decision – and/or, if she did, that she lacked insufficient powers of logic and persuasion to convince her colleagues not to hand down this decision. Instead, she endorsed the decision, and deprived the victim of First Amendment protection.

This is not the kind of judge we need on The Supreme Court.

***

As for your point about what Appellate Courts can do – look at the decisions of Judge Learned Hand, for an example of the powerful, progressive impact that an Appellate Judge can have.