Politics | Sonia Sotomayor Sotomayor: Good Judge, Crappy Writer Dry, plodding opinions could make her left's Clarence Thomas By Kevin Spak Posted Jun 4, 2009 12:04 PM CDT Copied Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor meets with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., not pictured, Wednesday, June 3, 2009, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) Sonia Sotomayor obviously has her talents, but “writing isn’t one of them,” writes Stephanie Mencimer in Mother Jones. “Sotomayor’s opinions read like she’s still following a formula she learned in college.” Whereas someone like Antonin Scalia wows with his airy and convincing prose, reading a Sotomayor opinion “might be good punishment for law students who show up late for class.” It’s tempting to dismiss such a shortcoming, but it’s a big deal. “The court’s influence and lasting legacy is what it commits to paper,” Mencimer argues. Good writers are quoted through the ages, bad ones lost to history. Without strong writing skills, Sotomayor risks being as irrelevant as Clarence Thomas. “After all, who quotes Thomas in term papers? His most significant influence on the court is getting the conservatives to five votes.” Read These Next A Delta flight got wild with an allegedly unruly passenger. Mark Sanchez hospitalized after stabbing. A Trump coin looks to be in the works, with legal questions swirling. FBI parts ways with the ADL over Turning Point USA controversy. Report an error