Remember when one's Catholicism was a big deal when a person was nominated to the Supreme Court? There were even stories about the influence of a Catholic majority on the court (the scare quote of this story is in the headline; the story itself is really fairly objective). There were even concerns that seating Catholics on the Supreme Court would mean other groups didn't get represented (horrors!)
After Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, said that women, Latinos and people of "other religions, not to mention nonbelievers" would be underrepresented on the court, William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, quickly fired back.
"Smeal didn't whine when Jewish nominee Stephen Breyer was slated to join Jewish Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. No, it's only when we have too many practicing Catholics that people like her complain," he said.
Well, no, Smeal didn't complain. She probably agreed with this cartoon, as well:
But we aren't hearing a lot of talk about nominee Sonia Sotomayor's Catholicism, either. Maybe Smeal will be assured that a Latina Catholic is acceptable, since she's not just a Catholic. Or maybe liberals in general (and feminists in particular) aren't worried that Sotomayor's faith will have any influence whatsoever on her judicial philosophy. My understanding is that Sotomayor hasn't dealt with a lot of abortion cases, so maybe liberals take that to mean she's pro-choice. Or it could just be that the court is already a quasi-5-4 status on abortion, anyway.
It's only been 24 hours or so since Obama's announcement, so, there's plenty of time for liberals start protesting about another Catholic on the Supreme Court. But I don't really expect her Catholicism to be a problem for them.
Special thanks to Chuck, who brought this to my attention.
UPDATE: While looking for liberals' reactions to John Roberts's nomination, I came across this amusing screed by Ted Rall, who swore up and down that Roberts on the court would make abortion all but disappear. Four years later and we haven't had Armaggedon yet.
UPDATE x2: Here's the first fear-mongering non-story I've seen about a "super majority" of Catholics on the Supreme Court. The money quote:
But Sotomayor, who is said to attend church for family events, may not be easily lumped together with the Court's other five Catholics: John Roberts Jr., Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito Jr.
Emphasis mine. Translation: she's not a real Catholic, so we don't have to worry about her.
UPDATE x3: What we need is transparency. Just like with the interrogation memos.
UPDATE x4: Oh, noes! Could Sotomayor be a closet pro-lifer? I don't believe it for a minute, but it's funny watching pro-abortion supporters act uncomfortable about it, particularly since Sotomayor is a woman and a Hispanic! Double bonus! Supposedly, Obama didn't ask her about abortion. Yeah, riiight.
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