Empathy

The LAT argues that "empathy" is key to Obama's Supreme Court pick to replace Justice Souter. Obama, the LAT says, is looking for someone who isn't so much concerned with justice as with empathy. Presumably, that means that Obama will pick someone based on how that person feels about the law and the constitution and about people who have violated one or the other.

Presumably, if an Obama nominee feels good about a precedent then he or she will follow the precedent. If not, the precedent will, presumably, be ignored.

Presumably, an Obama nominee's view of a founder's opinion will depend on how the nominee feels about the founder. A nominee, for example, might ignore whatever Jefferson may have said about an issue because Jefferson was a slave owner and may have raped Sally Hemmings multiple times. Likewise, an Obama nominee might ignore whatever Hamilton might have said or written because Hamilton was a right-winger. And old Ben Franklin was a known womanizer. An Obama nominee might properly ignore the writings of Ben Franklin.

Besides, all the founders were, presumably, straight, white men. They could not have known how women, blacks and other minorities might react to issues. Under the circumstances, an Obama nominee might legitimately ignore the opinions of all the founders.