A Missing Word: Empathy

I think what's most interesting about President Obama's discussion of a future nominee is the quality he did not say he would look for — empathy. Clearly the President isn't going to re-ignite the controversy that erupted last year after he announced he wanted a nominee with empathy to replace Justice Souter. But the retirement of Justice Stevens highlights that this is exactly the trait we need more of on the Court. While he has lived his life as a member of the majority and privileged in almost every way, Justice Stevens has always demonstrated the ability to put himself in someone else's shoes. He could imagine how things might appear to someone who was very different than he whether it was because he or she had a different skin color, gender, religion or sexual orientation. He didn't use this ability to warp his interpretation of the law but to enhance it with the understanding that everything can look a little different based on one's perspective. I think empathy is an eminently valuable trait in a judge, and Justice Stevens had it in spades. To truly find a nominee in Stevens' mold, President Obama should once again seek out someone with empathy. — Sonja West

Comments

[Paul Nelson]

Indeed, Sonya. But in light of the abuse heaped upon the term "empathy," given its connotation of "being disposed to favor one side at the outset," perhaps Justice Stevens is better-served by praise for his "sense of perspective."

While there is certainly a fair bit of overlap between these two things, at least "sense of perspective" is less likely to imply bias (an affliction that folks of every ideology can be happy Stevens studiously avoided).

Similarly, the President would do well to repeat the approach he used for selecting Justice Sotomayor, albeit in pursuit of perspective, not "offensive" empathy.