Sotomayor, authoritarian?

[nancylebov]

From The Agitator:

I mentioned the other day that the emerging image of Obama Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is not one of an “empathetic” or “activist” judge, but one of a left-leaning authoritarian, sort of a mirror image of Samuel Alito. She’ll be a reliable vote to uphold government power, be it for cops, prosecutors, regulatory agencies, or the executive.

Any counterexamples? Opinions about which way she trends?

Comments

[glenmarshall.livejournal.com]

From what I have read, she is a judicial centrist. The rabid right-wing perspective sees that as Satan incarnate.

All of the stupidity seems really aimed at Obama, but using her as the pincushion.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

The reason I posted the quote is that it's from Radley Balko, who's done quantities of work reporting on justice system atrocities, but who also praises competent, honest government.

[avram]

What does "centrist" mean in this context?

Balko is complaining about a particular aspect of Sotomayor's record -- that she (allegedly) tends to side with police and government power. How does describing her as a "judicial centrist" address that claim?

[glenmarshall.livejournal.com]

By "centrist" I mean that her judicial leanings will likely piss-off the right and left in roughly equal proportions.