A round-table discussion on the confirmation hearings of Justice Sonia Sotomayor focused on questions of gender, race and ethnicity in U.S. public and political life last Thursday.The event was co-sponsered by the American Studies and Legal Studies departments. Panelists Profs. Richard Gaskins (AMST), Anita Hill (Heller) and James Mandrell (ROMS) spoke at the event.

Sotomayor was confirmed to the Supreme Court on Aug. 6 by a Senate vote of 68 to 31. Most criticisms about her centered around a 2001 remark in which she stated, "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."

Each panelist shared thoughts regarding the hearings and then turned to the Brandeis students and faculty present for an open discussion.

Gaskins noted that the first major Supreme court nominee to face scrutiny similar to that which surrounded Sotomayor involved the University's namesake, Louis Brandeis. Nominated by Woodrow Wilson, Brandeis was the first Jew to serve on the Court; 93 years later, Sotomayor has been the first Latin American to take a similar stride.

Sotomayor "earned the reputation of being a 'wise' Latina" by handling the hearings calmly and stoically, said Gaskins, in a play on Sotomayor's own controversial words.

"[Sotomayor] is someone whose life has been changed by the law," said Hill. "Her relationship with the law is not just academic ... It is real and personal," she said.

"That is one of the reasons I think she is going to make a fine jurist," Hill added.

When asked whether race or gender is a more prominent issue today by a student in the audience, Hill says, "I'm not sure either are easier to resolve. It has become uncivil for any of us to recognize our race. It has become an inappropriate thing to talk about. If [Sotomayor] had said a 'wise woman' [instead of wise Latina], I don't think it would have gotten her in as much trouble."

In an interview with the Justice, Mandrell commented on the event's large turnout.

"It wasn't just the number of people, but it was the way that people stayed through what turned out to be a long event and their [continued] engagement. People were really, seriously, interested in listening," he said.

"I thought this was a wonderful opportunity to hear some of the great scholars, particularly someone [Anita Hill] who is very familiar with the Supreme Court hearings," said Prof. Shilpa Davé (AMST), who attended the event. Davé added that she had assigned her "Women in American Popular Culture" class to attend the event with questions in hand.

"The most interesting part of the lecture was Mandrell's analysis of Sen. Lindsey Graham's questioning of Sotomayor during the hearings. His analysis allowed us to see that the senator had an underlying message in his tone that we would not have noticed if we just took Senator Graham's questions at face value," said Morgan Fine '13, referring to Mandrell's showing of Youtube footage of the hearings.