On the Appointment of a Latina/O to the Supreme Court

Abstract

The possible appointment of a Latina or Latino Justice to the United States Supreme Court has been on the table for well over a decade. Its emergence as an issue worthy of serious discussion in some ways represents an acknowledgment of the growing Latina/o presence, and a movement away from Latina/o invisibility, in American social life. The much-publicized Census 2000 reveals that Hispanics currently comprise over 12.5 percent of the total U.S. population, or almost 35 million people, roughly approximating the number of African Americans in the country. Significantly higher concentrations of Latina/os live in California, Texas, Florida, New York, Arizona, and New Mexico.

In light of the demographics, we should expect - some might say demand - to see a Latina/o on the Supreme Court in the twenty-first century. The possible nomination of a Latina/o, of course, raises a plethora of questions, including perplexing ideological ones. The partisan political issues implicated by a Supreme Court appointment bring to the forefront the diversity of political opinion, correlated to a certain degree with national origin ancestry, among Latina/os in the United States.

This essay attempts to steer clear of the heated political questions implicated by a Supreme Court appointment at this time, namely the likely conservativism of a Latina/o nominated by a Republican President. Nor will the relative strengths and weaknesses of possible Latina/o nominees be discussed. Rather, I instead focus on the potential beneficial impact of the appointment of a qualified Latina or Latino to the Court as an institution, the Latina/o community, and the nation as a whole.

Although a heterogenous community, Latina/os in the United States share important common experiences. Such commonalities suggest that a Latina/o Justice may bring new perspectives to the Supreme Court. The addition of a Latina/o voice holds the promise of improving the decision-making process on constitutional law, civil rights, and other matters. Moreover, just as Justice Thurgood Marshall's historic appointment in 1967 did for African Americans, a Latina/o appointment would send a powerful message of inclusion to the Latina/o community. In sum, depending on the individual, a Latina/o Justice could make a lasting difference.

Keywords: Civil rights, immigration, race, national origin, labor, social justice