Sotomayor turns MLK Jr. upside down

She judges firemen not on their qualifications,
but on the color of their skin.........
Charles Krauthammer Writes..............
Sonia Sotomayor has a classic American story. So does Frank Ricci.
Ricci is a New Haven firefighter stationed seven blocks from where Sotomayor went to law school (Yale). Raised in blue-collar Wallingford, Conn., Ricci struggled as a C and D student in public schools ill-prepared to address his serious learning disabilities. Nonetheless he persevered, becoming a junior firefighter and Connecticut's youngest certified EMT.

After studying fire science at a community college, he became a New Haven "truckie," the guy who puts up ladders and breaks holes in burning buildings. When his department announced exams for promotions, he spent $1,000 on books, quit his second job so he could study eight to 13 hours a day and, because of his dyslexia, hired someone to read him the material.
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He placed sixth on the lieutenant's exam, which qualified him for promotion. Except that the exams were thrown out by the city, and all promotions denied, because no blacks had scored high enough to be promoted.
Ricci (with 19 others) sued.

That's where these two American stories intersect. Sotomayor was a member of the three-member circuit court panel that upheld the dismissal of his case, thus denying Ricci his promotion..........

Krauthammer says, Republicans should call Frank Ricci as their first witness. Democrats want justice rooted in empathy? Let Ricci tell his story, and let the American people judge whether his promotion should have been denied because of his skin color in a procedure Sotomayor joined in calling "facially race-neutral."

I have studied for Civil Service Exams. I spent two years studying for Lieutenant. I gave up my lunch breaks everyday to study.I listened to recordings of material back and forth to and from work everyday. I spent my own money to go to classes. I spent much of my free time involved in preparation. To have all that thrown out, to have all that work negated, just because a judge didn't like the results, didn't like the color of my skin, would be a crushing blow. I understand the history of America, but Frank Ricci did not deny anyone the right to study, to achieve. Frank Ricci had his American Dream derailed by racism. It was a terrible thing in the past. Doing again to a different group, doesn't make it right.