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Next Supreme Court Justice Should Have Empathy, not Sympathy

Barack Obama has said that he wants to appoint a Supreme Court Justice who has empathy for the common person.  He is spot-on.  However, Harvard man though he may be, I wonder: Does he understand the difference between empathy and sympathy?  A person develops sympathy from reading about the problems of others.  A person develops empathy by living those problems.  Have any of the front-runners for the next Supreme Court position lived the life of the average person?  Or even lived with the common man or woman?Thus, Norm Pattis has a proposal:When the U.S. Senate vets the next appointee for the U.S. Supreme Court [to replace Justice David Souter, who?s retiring], do not confirm any person who cannot answer in the affirmative the following question: "Have you ever represented a human being in turmoil who made less than the median family income in this country?"If you look at everyone whose name is being circulated, there's probably not a single person who could answer that question in the affirmative...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on May 04, 2009 (boomark / email).