New Haven firefighters Frank Ricci and Ben Vargas spoke at Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing Thursday.

But why?

Commentators across the board remarked that Ricci’s and Vargas’s statements were moving and emotional. Surely everyone could empathize with their situation — denied promotions they deserved and initially denied redress in the courts.

But I thought we were trying to get away from empathy in the judicial system?

Mr. Ricci and Mr. Vargas don’t know anything about Judge Sotomayor that the rest of us don’t know. Their interaction with her is limited to the brief judgment she and her colleagues issued in disposing of their case. And they can’t offer any insight into how appropriately Judge Sotomayor applied the law.

The only possible value the men’s testimony could have is to dredge up feelings and emotions about whether racial discrimination is a two-way street — to get senators and the public to empathize with their plight and use that empathy to influence their opinion of Judge Sotomayor.

By the Republican standard expressed in these hearings, Judge Sotomayor would have been forbidden from considering such feelings in rendering her decision. Republicans should have held themselves to the same standard.