\"It's essentially an unanimous opinion\" where the court doesn't add anything to the decision by the court below, Sotomayor said Thursday. Republicans complained that Sotomayor and two other judges on an appeals court panel provided only cursory reasoning when they ruled per curiam against white firefighters in their discrimination lawsuit in New Haven, Conn.
Per curiam opinions are often but not always unanimous. The Supreme Court's most famous per curiam opinion was Bush v. Gore, the bitterly disputed 5-4 ruling that essentially ended the 2000 presidential election in favor of George W. Bush."; POL_legal_terms_explained[i++] = new Array("","Prima facie","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); POL_legal_terms_explained[i-1].body = "At first glance. Simply, it means a case that at first glance presents sufficient evidence for the plaintiff to win. Sotomayor said the question the appeals court panel had to consider in the New Haven, Conn., firefighter case was this: If the city decided to use a challenged test for promotions, would test results likely to lead to the promotion of few minorities allow minority firefighters to make a \"prima facie case\" of discrimination."; POL_legal_terms_explained[i++] = new Array("","Pro bono","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); POL_legal_terms_explained[i-1].body = "In Latin, \"for the public good.\" It means work lawyers do for free for the benefit of society. Even though senators have focused on her \"wise Latina remark,\" Sotomayor said the majority of her speeches are about \"public service and pro bono work.\"
Sotomayor: \"I was influenced so greatly by a television show in igniting the passion that I had as being a prosecutor, and it was 'Perry Mason.' ... That TV character said something that motivated my choices in life and something that holds true ... defense attorneys serve a noble role, as well. All participants in this process do: judges, juries, prosecutors and defense attorneys. We are all implementing the protections of the Constitution.\""; POL_legal_terms_explained[i++] = new Array("","Jurisprudence","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); POL_legal_terms_explained[i-1].body = "From the Latin term juris prudentia, defined as \"the study, knowledge or science of law.\" A long word that means judicial philosophy. Sotomayor said a lawyer who claimed that she has liberal instincts \"has not read my jurisprudence for 17 years.\" "; POL_legal_terms_explained[i++] = new Array("","Stare decisis","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); POL_legal_terms_explained[i-1].body = "To stand by a previous decision -- one way of saying to be guided by precedent. Sotomayor used the term when asked about a 5-4 Supreme Court decision in 2005, Kelo v. City of New London, that local governments may seize people's homes and businesses for private economic development."; POL_legal_terms_explained[i++] = new Array("","Judicial precedent","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); POL_legal_terms_explained[i-1].body = "A ruling that establishes a principle that another court later relies on when presented with a similar circumstance. Supreme Court and judicial nominees always say they will follow judicial precedent. However, once confirmed to lifetime seats, judges can use any reasoning. Sotomayor said Tuesday a court should only depart from precedent \"very, very cautiously.\" "; POL_legal_terms_explained[i++] = new Array("","Fundamental rights","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); POL_legal_terms_explained[i-1].body = "Some rights are fundamental in a legal sense, others are not. The Constitution is the leading but not sole authority on which is which. A right that the Supreme Court deems fundamental is much harder to restrict than other rights. At issue in the Sotomayor hearing is whether the right to bear arms is a fundamental right beyond the reach of state and local gun controls. The Supreme Court hasn't decided whether bearing arms is a fundamental right. It might consider the question this fall. "; POL_legal_terms_explained[i++] = new Array("","En banc","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); POL_legal_terms_explained[i-1].body = "A French term meaning cases heard by all appeals judges in a circuit, not just one judge or a panel of them. Usually done with cases of special importance or complexity. "; POL_legal_terms_explained[i++] = new Array("","Petition for certiorari","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); POL_legal_terms_explained[i-1].body = "The term for appealing a ruling to the Supreme Court. "; // END editorial data