A judge’s prejudices

Those in Congress who criticized President Obama’s judicial appointments have a restricted vision of the justice that judges like Edith Jones represent.

This Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge told a crowd of law students during an event hosted a few months ago by the Federalist Society that “racial groups like African-Americans and Hispanics are predisposed to crime,” and are “prone to commit acts of violence” and be involved in more violent and “heinous” crimes than other minorities.

She also expressed her point of view about the death penalty, saying it provides a public service by letting inmates “make peace with God.”

Given her way of thinking, it is hard to imagine that a Latino who has been charged with a violent crime could get an unprejudiced trial in front of her. Because of Jones’ opinions, and fairly so, legal and civil rights organizations have filed an ethics complaint against her, based on signed affidavits from some attendees.

The issue is that Jones is not an anomaly. She is a conservative judicial star appointed to the court by Ronald Reagan, and was a main potential candidate for U.S. Supreme Court appointments during the George W. Bush administration. Jones represents a judicial philosophy that, without being racist, does not recognize the constitutional basis of rights and protections for minorities and individuals.

We think that Republican senators should focus their concerns on judges like Jones, instead of criticizing the moderate nominations of the White House. They should be worried that Jones is discrediting their philosophical current with her racial prejudice. However, no one in the GOP has raised their voice about Jones. As they say, silence gives consent.