"judges and lawyers described Bryant as "domineering and exasperated with lawyers," "arrogant and unreasonable," and "contentious and short-tempered." Some also said she seemed overwhelmed by complex issues and wrote opinions that were hard to decipher"

Wow. Such unique qualities in a federal judge.

Seriously, it is embarrassing and obvious how often this blog focuses on black female judges/high-profile lawyers and their "unreasonable" ways. Were these two white dudes, you likely wouldn't be spilling ink on them and surely wouldn't be analogizing them to each other.

The legitimate question lurking in the subtext is: When you place a premium on "diversity" in your federal judicial nominees, what do you sacrifice on the other end?

Yes, Amalya Kearse is smart as a whip. Yes, there are many other great female and/or minority judges.

But many other "diversity"-oriented picks for the federal bench turn out to be disappointing judges. Their "disappointment" rate is, in my (admittedly anecdotal) experience, higher than it is for white males.

Just my two cents.

Yet another post taking shots at blacks in the law. The inevitable "diversity makes things worse for all of us" comment ensues. Thanks ATL.

There are a lot of superficial similarities. Both are African-American women, from non-top-tier law schools, born within two years of each other, and named "Vanessa" (a less common name among federal judges than, say, John).

Yet another post taking shots at blacks in the law. The inevitable "diversity makes things worse for all of us" comment ensues. Thanks ATL.

Amalya Kearse was a Biglaw partner and a graduate of Wellesley and Michigan Law. You can have a diverse bench without changing your selection criteria.

Anonymous + Open debate are correct. we must not water down our high standards in the name of "diversity." this is not "taking shots at blacks in the law," instead this is taking shots at unqualifed people getting nominated as judges.

dude, your embitterment towards affirmative action would likely be lessened if you took a loooong hard long at yourself and the benefits you had growing up, benefits that many minority students don't. The "meritocracy" is a bunch of bullshit.

Let me guess --you're not black or hispanic, right? Mommy and/or daddy went to college? Did they have professional degrees too? Paid for your lessons and SAT prep classes and LSAT prep classes and forced you to do your homework every night, right? Let me guess further -- you were surrounded by a bunch of white peers in a really good school who peer pressured you into applying to college and law school? What kind of public school district did you live in as a kid? Or did you get to go private school?

Now, obviously, I don't know the answers to the above questions in your particular case, so don't bore me with the details of "where I'm wrong" and tales of how you worked your way through law school in a saw mill and how your mom ran a meth lab. My point is that there was nothing more annoying to me in law school than Charney-esque deluded douchebags, many of whom were the CHILDREN of lawyers and doctors, who had nevertheless somehow convinced themselves that everything they achieved was the result of "their own merit." Even though mommy and daddy up in Westchester had been bankrolling and pushing them towards academic success since birth. When the deluded and privileged middle-class children of professional-degree holders bitch and moan about affirmative action, someone needs to slap them in the face and cancel their credit cards.

Too bad we can't take every college student in this country and tattoo their parents' educational level and net worth on their foreheads. We'd learn something about "meritocracy" then.

9:16: Nice speech, but completely irrelevant.

Yes, there are socioeconomic and educational inequalities in our country. Thanks for that news flash.

But there are better ways to address these problems than by giving lifetime appointments on the federal bench to judges who are "arrogant and unreasonable," "contentious and short-tempered," and "overwhelmed by complex issues."

We would be better served by improving our educational system than by appointing mediocre nominees to the bench in an effort to improve "diversity."

(Remember: the negative comments about Judge Bryant are from an investigation by the ABA, a left-leaning organization. They are not from conservatives - who actually probably want Vanessa Bryant confirmed, since she was nominated by Bush. So they shouldn't be dismissed as politically motivated, character assassination, etc.)