Ed Whelan at Bench Memos reveals a joke that Sotomayor told back in 2006 that reveals here view about the role of Supreme Court Justices.

“It involves three judges who go duck hunting. A duck flies overhead and the supreme court justice, before he picks up his shotgun, ponders about the policy implications of shooting the duck—how will the environment be affected, how will the duck hunting business be affected if he doesn’t shoot the duck, well by the time he finishes, the duck got away.

Another duck flies overhead, and the circuit judge goes through his five part test before pulling the trigger—1) he lifts the shotgun to his shoulder, 3) [sic] he sights the duck, 3) he measures the velocity of the duck’s flight, 4) he aims, and 5) he shoots—and, he misses.

Finally, another duck flies by, the district judge picks up the shotgun and shoots. The duck lands and the district judge picks it up, swings it over his shoulder and decides that he will let the other two judges explain what he did over dinner.”

The joke itself, isn’t especially out of line, it’s common for lawyers and judges to joke about their profession. But it reinforces the fact that Sotomayor – as other liberal judges – believes that the role of the court is to make policy and law.

We know it’s how she feels and especially that Latino women are better at it that we white men. Yet this joke shows not just a “poor choice of words” or a slip of the tongue, a belief system that is undeniable, and incompatible with being a judge of the highest court in in the land.