“A Compelling Biography Is No Guarantee of a Smooth Confirmation”: Saturday in The Washington Post, Michael A. Fletcher will have an article that begins, “For his first Supreme Court pick, the president chose a pioneering minority in the hope that a compelling story of overcoming poverty to graduate from Yale Law School and become a federal appeals court judge would preempt a bitter ideological fight. The president was George H.W. Bush and the nominee was Clarence Thomas, and if there is a lesson for President Obama in naming Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, it is that compelling personal stories go only so far in guaranteeing a smooth confirmation process.”
Saturday’s edition of The New York Times will contain an article headlined “Sotomayor’s Focus on Race Issues May Be Hurdle.”
And Marcia Coyle of The National Law Journal reports that “Big Issues Lurk Below Surface of Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings.”
The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “Death cases among early issues for new justice” and “White House: Sotomayor says she chose word poorly.”
“Sotomayor to meet with senators next week”: The Associated Press has this report.
“Where Would Justice Souter’s Replacement Make a Difference? Part II.” Kevin Russell has this post today at “SCOTUSblog.”
“Sweet Justice: Why Judge Sotomayor’s diabetes shouldn’t be ignored.” Darshak Sanghavi has this essay online at Slate.
Available online from National Public Radio: Yesterday evening’s broadcast of “All Things Considered” contained audio segments entitled “Few Clues To Sotomayor’s Position On Abortion” (featuring Nina Totenberg) and “Senators Offer Competing Views Of Sotomayor.”
And today’s broadcast of “Morning Edition” contained an audio segment entitled “Preliminary Work Starts On Confirmation Hearings.”
RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments.
The Washington Times is reporting: Today’s newspaper contains articles headlined “Lawyers tag nominee as ‘terror on the bench’“; “Pro-life Catholic leader roots for Sotomayor; Tells GOP not to fight ‘this one’“; and “Sotomayor finds favor in coverage; Media are focused on life story.”
“Black asks high court for release from prison”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “Former media executive Conrad Black is seeking his release from prison, at least until the Supreme Court decides whether to uphold his fraud conviction.”
“5 Ways The GOP Could Stall A Vote On Sotomayor”: David Welna has this written report at NPR.org.
“Bomb-Building Terrorists Welcome in One U.S. Town”: Bloomberg News columnist Ann Woolner has this essay today.
In the June 2009 issue of ABA Journal magazine: David G. Savage will have an article headlined “The Future in Black and White: In the era of President Barack Obama, race relations still play out.”
And Richard Brust and Stephanie Francis Ward will have an article headlined “Last of the Old Guard: Souter is gone–so is moderate GOP.”
“Court Backs New Jersey Aid Revision: Less Focus on Poorest Schools.” Today’s edition of The New York Times contains an article that begins, “The New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a new school financing formula that replaced a controversial one that had favored poor urban districts.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports today that “N.J. high court backs Corzine’s school-aid plan.”
And The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger contains articles headlined “Court shifts course on school aid; Instead of focusing on poor areas, funding will be based on enrollment” and “Corzine basks in an affirmation of his policy; Critics contend governor is only furthering the education bureaucracy.”
You can access yesterday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of New Jersey at this link.
“Blog Teen’s Supreme Ire: Rips Sonia as a Foe of Free Speech.” This article appears today in The New York Post.
Newsday reports today that “Alito and Sotomayor have striking similarities.”
In The Washington Post, Robert Barnes and Michael D. Shear report that “Abortion Rights Backers Get Reassurances on Nominee.” In addition, columnist Charles Krauthammer has an op-ed entitled “Sotomayor: Rebut, Then Confirm“; columnist Michael Kinsley has an op-ed entitled “The Right’s Court Complex“; columnist Eugene Robinson has an op-ed entitled “A Smile to Set the GOP on Edge“; columnist Michael Gerson has an op-ed entitled “Into the Trap With Open Eyes“; and Dana Milbank’s “Washington Sketch” essay is headlined “Enter Nominee. Cue Applause, Posturing.”
The Associated Press has a report headlined “Two sides of Sotomayor” that begins, “There are two sides to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor: a Latina from a blue-collar family and a wealthy member of America’s power elite.”
The New York Daily News contains an article headlined “Sotomayor getting a break from bench to focus on Supreme Court hurdle” that begins, “Her work is done here. Judge Sonia Sotomayor is now free to concentrate on getting that plummest of plum jobs. She won’t be hearing any more cases that come before the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, a source said.”
USA Today reports that “Sotomayor’s remarks dissected; Key Republican senator says an explanation is necessary.”
Politico.com has articles headlined “Princeton University holds the key to understanding Sonia Sotomayor“; “For a justice, Sonia Sotomayor is low on dough“; “Sotomayor hits the jackpot“; “White House urged to address ‘racist’ charge“; and “Sonia Sotomayor: No empathy for campaign cash.”
In The Wall Street Journal, John Hasnas has an op-ed entitled “The ‘Unseen’ Deserve Empathy, Too: Judges can do the most good by following the law.” And, columnist Kimberley A. Strassel has an op-ed entitled “The Sotomayor Rules: Some were made to be broken.”
In The New York Times, columnist David Brooks has an op-ed entitled “The Empathy Issue.”
In The Boston Globe, columnist Ellen Goodman has an op-ed entitled “A wise person for the court.”
And in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, columnist Jay Bookman has an op-ed entitled “Sotomayor right: Biography does influence rulings.”
“Nebraska governor signs lethal-injection bill”: The Lincoln Journal Star today contains an article that begins, “After 15 months of having no means to carry out its death penalty, Nebraska will soon be able to use lethal injection to execute prisoners convicted of capital crimes.”
“Inflating the Guantanamo Threat”: Peter Bergen and Katherine Tiedemann have this op-ed today in The New York Times.
“Governor taps Justice Suttell to lead R.I. Supreme Court”: This article appears today in The Providence (R.I.) Journal, along with an article headlined “Suttell lauded for years of hard work.”
“Police Tasers: excessive force or necessary tool? A crop of legal cases across the US raise concerns over the use of electric stun guns in routine police stops.” Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor has this report.
