UNM Law Professors Enter the Sotomayor Debate
July 1, 2009
UNM Law professors Laura E. Gómez and Margaret Montoya have made numerous appearances in the local and national media with their commentary on President Obama's nomination of federal appellate Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Gómez shares her views on affirmative action and Sotomayor's "wise Latina" comment in two separate opinion columns in the national media, in the context of criticizing the all-white-male courts that decided Dred Scot and Plessy v. Ferguson decisions upholding race discrimination.”
She opines on affirmative action at usatoday.com. At cnn.com, she offers to put into context Sotomayor's comment, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."Gómez was in attendance at the 2001 Berkeley conference where the comment was made.
She also was quoted in a July 19 article in the Los Angeles Times.
Montoya has been interviewed by radio station hosts across the country, including on Wakeup Call July 15, 7 am, the morning drive-time news magazine on WBAI in New York City and on the Surreal News Show on WSLR in Sarasota, FL. An opinion column also appears in the New Mexico Independent.
