Here's a great piece on my favorite among the Bush nominees denied a vote by the Democrats. It provides some interesting details about her life, and some intriguing quotes from one of her opinions that show her to be a crusader for justice under the principles enshrined in the Constitution.

In her dissent [in People v. McKay], Brown even lashed out at the U.S. Supreme Court and - pay close attention, my liberal friends - criticized an opinion written by its most conservative member, Justice Antonin Scalia, for allowing police to use traffic stops to obliterate the expectation of privacy the Fourth Amendment bestows.

"Due to the widespread violation of minor traffic laws, an officer's discretion is still as wide as the driving population is large," she wrote. In her view, court decisions have freed police to search beyond reason not just drivers of cars but "those who walk, bicycle, rollerblade, skateboard or propel a scooter."

She reserved special scorn for judges who permit police to discriminate while advising the targets of discrimination to sue to challenge their oppressors. "Such a suggestion overlooks the fact that most victims ... will barely have enough money to pay the traffic citation, much less be able to afford an attorney. ... To dismiss people who have suffered real constitutional harms with remedies that are illusory or nonexistent allows courts to be complacent about bigotry while claiming compassion for its victims," she wrote.

"Judges go along with questionable police conduct, proclaiming that their hands are tied. If our hands really are tied, it behooves us to gnaw through the ropes."

And this is the woman that Half-Truth Harry Reid says wants to take us back to before the Civil War. Hardly -- this is a woman who is very much in line with the spirit of the Civil War-era Amendment that sought to make blacks full participants in American liberty, and whose philosophy is in keeping with that of Dr. King.

Confirm her now -- by any means necessary.

Posted by: Greg at 01:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 346 words, total size 2 kb.