Firefighters around the country weren't paying much attention to the Sotomayor hearing, but almost all of them had strong feelings about the lawsuit that senators are asking her about.
Rene Archambault, a firefighter for 27 years in Lawrence, Mass., said he hopes Sotomayor's confirmation is derailed because she ruled against white firefighters who had accused New Haven, Conn., of racial bias.
That ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court.
"I hope she doesn't get confirmed, rendering those types of decisions,"said Archambault, a white firefighter in a heavily Hispanic city. "If you were an astronaut, would you want to fly on the shuttle built by the lower bidder? ... I think you would want the best candidate."
Patrick Driscoll, president of the Lawrence Firefighters Union, Local 146, said he disagreed with her decision but doesn't think it will affect her confirmation.
"Everybody should be held to the same standard and accountability," he said. "If she's trying to turn things around because of race or origin, I don't know if that kind of person being appointed is the right way to go."
The white firefighters challenged New Haven's decision to scrap the results of a promotion test because too few minorities scored high enough to qualify.
"I couldn't say it was fair or not," said Malik Mtima, a black firefighter in Atlanta. "It's not likely that black firefighters just weren't smart enough."
Chief Franklin Lockwood leads a department of 12 white firefighters in St. Francis, Wis. He read the headlines, but didn't think much about the case.
"Those guys are from New Haven. It's not a problem in my back yard."
-Errin Haines in Atlanta, Denise Lavoie in Boston, Dinesh Ramde in St.Francis, Wis.
Source: Yahoo News
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