Paterson, D&C Wrong on Court Picks

As you have probably read, Gov. Paterson indicated that he was "disturbed" by the composition of the list of Court of Appeals nominees selected by the Commission on Judicial Nomination. An aide indicated that Paterson was disturbed by the lack of diversity of the group, which included seven men, one of whom was African-American.

The D&C weighed in yesterday with and editorial stating that the Commission should go back and try again. Mr. Lawrence and the D&C Editorial Board also feel that diversity was not served by the nominations.

Well, I guess the notion that Barak Obama's election might usher in a period of post-racial politics may have been a little over-hyped. It appears that the Governor and the D&C think that diversity is the number one qualification for nomination to the State's highest Court. The complaints seem a bit hollow since the NY Court of Appeals is already a very diverse group, including four women, one of whom is Hispanic, as well as an African-American.

One would think that the most important criterion for elevation to the Court of appeals would be legal and judicial acumen. I guess I was wrong there. But if you carry the diversity argument to its logical conclusion, in a case where the seven most qualified nominees were all women or African-American or Hispanic, some of them would be expected to be left aside so that a mediocre white male could be nominated.

That would be disturbing. I know Justice is supposed to be blind. Doesn't that include color-blind?