“Senate Confirmation Hearing Portrays 3 Versions of Sotomayor”: law.com’s Tony Mauro has this report.

And Bloomberg News columnist Albert R. Hunt has an essay entitled “White Men Can’t Trump Sotomayor on Life Story.”

“Little for Liberals in Confirmation Hearings; As Sotomayor and White House Avoid Ideology, Some on Left See Wasted Chance”: The Washington Post contains this article today. In addition, the newspaper contains an editorial entitled “Confirm Sonia Sotomayor: Despite less than candid exchanges on diversity, her hearings reveal a well-qualified candidate for the court“; columnist Kathleen Parker has an op-ed entitled “The GOP’s Sotomayor Sinkhole“; and Robin Givhan has an essay entitled “Opening a Conventional Closet In Quest for a Supreme Robe.”

Today in The Los Angeles Times, James Oliphant and David G. Savage have an article headlined “Diversity a touchy topic at Sotomayor hearings; What Sen. Jeff Sessions calls an ‘honest discussion’ on race, some observers say is an attack on ethnic pride.” The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “Verdict on Sotomayor: The nominee impressed, despite a hearing that was big on imagery but short on substance.”

In the Week in Review section of The New York Times, Jill Abramson has an article headlined “Women on the Verge of the Law: From Anita Hill to Sonia Sotomayor.” In addition, columnist Frank Rich has an op-ed entitled “They Got Some ‘Splainin’ to Do.”

And The Associated Press has reports headlined “Hearings fail to sway Sessions to Sotomayor’s side” and “Sotomayor would be beholden to no one.”

“Republicans Are Splitting on Sotomayor Confirmation”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

The Washington Post reports today that “3 Senate Republicans Endorse Sotomayor; But One Leader Says Statements Indicate Partiality.”

And in The Wall Street Journal, David Greenberg has an essay entitled “The Supreme Court Kabuki Dance: The ritual of choosing a justice has a long history of fictions and evasions.”

“Sotomayor would lend different experience to court”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report.

And Politico.com has reports headlined “Left and right both let down by Sonia Sotomayor hearings“; “Senators talk away at Sonia Sotomayor’s hearing“; “The right to bear nunchucks?“; and “Court tapes show blunt Sotomayor.”

“A mechanic in a black robe: Legal experts disappointed by Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation performance say her workmanlike answers gave no indication of the philosophy that would guide her on the Supreme Court.” David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times. And James Oliphant has an article headlined “Firefighters say the law matters, not empathy; New Haven, Conn., plaintiffs in the lawsuit that Sonia Sotomayor ruled on testify at her Supreme Court confirmation hearing.”

Today in USA Today, Kathy Kiely and Joan Biskupic have an article headlined “Sessions expects vote on Sotomayor in August; Past statements still trouble Republicans.”

In The Washington Post, Robert Barnes and Paul Kane have an article headlined “Graham Exchanges Among Most Watched; S.C. Conservative Is Considered Pivotal Character in Sotomayor Hearings.”

The New Haven Register contains an article headlined “Firefighters: Denounce Sotomayor’s appeal ruling, don’t oppose confirmation.” And Dana Milbank has a “Washington Sketch” column headlined “Firefighters but No Brimstone.”

Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor reports that “Sotomayor on track to easy Supreme Court confirmation; At her confirmation hearings this week, any ideological slugfest was avoided as the nominee stayed low-key and judicial.”

From McClatchy Newspapers, David Lightman and Michael Doyle have an article headlined “Sotomayor hearings offer lessons for future nominees“; David Lightman reports that “3 Republican senators say they’ll vote for Sotomayor“; and Halimah Abdullah has an article headlined “McConnell, Bunning agree: They’ll vote no on Sotomayor.”

And Saturday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal will contain an editorial entitled “Second Amendment Confidential: Sotomayor takes the Fifth on gun rights.”

“Justice Ginsburg In Context”: Columnist Michael Gerson has this op-ed today in The Washington Post.

“High Court Ruling Voids DWI Case In Fairfax County”: Satuday’s edition of The Washington Post will contain an article that begins, “A Fairfax County Circuit Court judge threw out a breathalyzer certificate in a drunken driving case yesterday, ruling under a new Supreme Court precedent that prosecutors had to make the officer who performed the breath test available for cross-examination.”

“Ruling: Court failed its duty to Muslim scholar.” The Associated Press has a report that begins, “U.S. officials should have given a Muslim scholar a chance to show he was no supporter of terrorism before barring him from the country, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.”

And law.com reports that “2nd Circuit Revives Muslim Scholar’s Challenge to Ban on U.S. Travel.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit at this link.

“Appeals court dismisses lawsuit over Bush protest”: The Associated Press has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued yesterday.

“GOP senators weigh options in Sotomayor’s wake”: Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press has this report. The AP also reports that “Senate saw carbon copy of courthouse Sotomayor.”

Greg Stohr and Christopher Stern of Bloomberg News report that “Sotomayor Moves Toward Approval as Republicans Soften Criticism.”

Reuters reports that “Sotomayor on track for quick vote.”

And law.com’s Tony Mauro reports that “Cordial End to Senate Hearing Paves Way for Sotomayor Confirmation.”

“‘Torture Memo’ Author Yoo Gets Private Lawyer for Appeal of Detainee Lawsuit”: law.com has an article that begins, “John Yoo, author of some of the Bush administration’s war-on-terror memos, has hired Washington, D.C., lawyer Miguel Estrada to appeal a ruling that allowed an allegedly mistreated detainee’s suit against Yoo.”

“Gitmo closure angers families of Sept. 11 victims”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Senate Likely to Vote on Sotomayor in August”: Neil A. Lewis will have this article in Friday’s edition of The New York Times. Tomorrow’s newspaper will also contain a news analysis headlined “A Nominee on Display, but Not Her Views.” Today’s newspaper, meanwhile, contains an article headlined “Queries on Abortion and Guns Fail to Break Judge’s Stride,” a news analysis headlined “Future Nominations Are at Stake in Hearings,” and an op-ed by columnist Gail Collins entitled “3 Days of the Sotomayor.”

In Friday’s edition of The Washington Post, Paul Kane, Robert Barnes, and Amy Goldstein will have an article headlined “Senate Republicans Won’t Block Vote on Sotomayor; Decision All but Ensures Confirmation to Supreme Court.” Today’s newspaper, meanwhile, contains an article by Amy Goldstein, Paul Kane, and Robert Barnes headlined “Sotomayor Avoids Pointed Queries; Supreme Court Nominee Is Elusive About Abortion and Other Issues,” an article headlined “As Questioner, Lawmaker Is Man on Own Mission; Specter Well Prepared to Grill Sotomayor,” a news analysis by Robert Barnes headlined “Republicans Unable to Pin Her Down; With Democrats’ Help, Sotomayor Has Blunted GOP Senators’ Best Efforts,” and an op-ed by columnist David S. Broder entitled “Battle Lines — for Another Day.”

In today’s edition of The Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage and James Oliphant report that “Sotomayor is grilled on abortion and gun rights; GOP senators press the Supreme Court nominee for her views on controversial subjects; But Sotomayor avoids engaging with her questioners and sticks to her judicial record.” The newspaper also contains an article headlined “Sotomayor’s stance on business is moderate; The Supreme Court nominee is far from an ideologue on business matters, many legal experts say.”

In Friday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, Naftali Bendavid and Jess Bravin will have an article headlined “Sotomayor Nears Confirmation After Testimony; Firefighter in Controversial Case Speaks, but No Bombshells Emerge on Final Day; Full Senate Vote Likely in Early August.” Today’s newspaper, meanwhile, contains an article headlined “Nominee’s Testimony Avoids Advocating Liberal Stands” and an editorial entitled “Defining Activism Down: A liberal vote cast in conservative judicial rhetoric.”

In USA Today, Joan Biskupic and Kathy Kiely have an article headlined “‘Perry Mason’ helped ‘mold’ Sotomayor; No promises on abortion, nominee says.” In addition, law professor Jonathan Turley has an op-ed entitled “Retire the ‘Ginsburg rule’: Supreme Court nominee hearings are most noteworthy for what they don’t reveal.”

David Lightman of| McClatchy Newspapers reports that “Firefighter Ricci, GOP can’t halt Sotomayor confirmation drive.”

And Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor has an article headlined “Firefighters on Sotomayor: We did not ask for empathy; Sotomayor had ruled against them in a controversial reverse-discrimination case; In Senate testimony Thursday, they vented their displeasure.”

“Student must repay $350,000, court says; A Grand Marais lawyer tried to discharge his loan debt through bankruptcy, but an appeals court says no way”: This article appeared yesterday in The Minneapolis Star Tribune.

You can access last week’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit at this link.

“Why We Endorsed Warrantless Wiretaps: The inspectors general report ignores history and plays politics with the law.” Law professor John Yoo has this op-ed today in The Wall Street Journal.

Available online at Slate: Dahlia Lithwick has jurisprudence essays entitled “What We Didn’t Learn: We know less about Sonia Sotomayor now than we did a week ago” and “What a Waste: The Sotomayor hearings were a mass of missed opportunities for Republicans and Democrats alike.”

And Brian Palmer has an explainer essay entitled “Do Judges Really Have To Follow Precedent? Not unless they mind being reversed.”

“GOP envisions August Senate vote on Sotomayor”: The Associated Press has this report, along with an article headlined “Firefighter denounces Sotomayor ruling.”

“Americans United Commends Appellate Court Decision Against Bible Distribution In Mo. Public School”: The organization Americans United for Separation of Church and State has issued this news release about a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued today.

“Sotomayor testimony completed”: The Associated Press has this report, along with articles headlined “Democrats to set first Sotomayor vote next week“; “Firefighter next witness in Sotomayor hearing saga“: and “Sotomayor can get by on justice’s pay.”

“Sotomayor draws praise from GOP critic”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report.

And Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press has an article headlined “How Sotomayor’s comments compare to Roberts, Alito.”

“Sotomayor learned the ropes on ‘Tarzan’ case”: CNN.com has an article that begins, “Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor graduated with honors from Ivy League schools. But she may have learned some of her most memorable lessons as a young prosecutor, following police into abandoned tenements and tracking down witnesses on the grimy streets of New York.”

Day four of the confirmation hearing is now underway, and you can view the hearing live, online via C-SPAN by clicking here.

“Britain prepares to open first Supreme Court”: The Associated Press has this report.

Programming note: My son and I will be attending the AA 2009 Eastern League All-Star Game at the home of the Trenton Thunder this evening, and pre-game festivities are scheduled to begin mid-afternoon.

You can access a preview of the event at this link; team rosters are available here and here; and the official game notes can be accessed here. Additional blog posts will appear later tonight.

Update: The final score was South All-Stars 5, North All-Stars 3. You can access the box score at this link; a game recap at this link; and article about the game here, here, and here.

“Sotomayor says Obama didn’t ask about abortion”: The Associated Press has this report, along with a report headlined “Sotomayor stands by admission words ‘fell flat.’”

“As part of a series of interviews recorded at the 2009 Aspen Ideas Festival, The Atlantic‘s Bob Cohn sits down with Justice Stephen Breyer to discuss David Souter, the polarization of the Court, and his advice to nominee Sonia Sotomayor.” You can view the interview online by clicking here.

Update: Just a short time ago, that web site also posted online the video of an interview in which “Sandra Day O’Connor talks to Bob Cohn about her 25 years on the Supreme Court and her ‘absolutely miserable’ confirmation hearings.”

Watch day three of the Sotomayor confirmation hearing live, online: Via C-SPAN, you can watch the hearing by clicking here. The hearing is scheduled to resume this morning at 9:30 a.m. eastern time.

“Old Mission, New Life: Randall Terry Wants to Lead Rebirth of Antiabortion Fight.” The Washington Post contains this article today.

“Lab Analyst Decision Complicates Prosecutions; High Court Requires Scientists to Testify”: This front page article appears today in The Washington Post, along with an editorial entitled “Avoiding Paralysis in Court: Virginia and other states should move swiftly to surmount a new hurdle to prosecutions.”

“Hearings Are Window Into Judge’s Acumen”: Adam Liptak has this news analysis today in The New York Times. The newspaper also contains an article headlined “Nominee Says Identity Wouldn’t Distort Decisions” and an op-ed by columnist Maureen Dowd entitled “White Man’s Last Stand.”

Today in The Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage and James Oliphant report that “Sotomayor answers her Senate critics in hearing; The Supreme Court nominee explains the legal bases for her past rulings, reassuring supporters if not winning over conservatives.” In addition, law professor Peter H. Schuck has an op-ed entitled “Court sense: Analyzing justices on ideological grounds is far too simplistic.”

In The Wall Street Journal, Jess Bravin has an article headlined “Sotomayor Grilled by Panel; High Court Nominee Distances Herself From Obama’s ‘Empathy’ Comments.” Naftali Bendavid has an article headlined “Supreme Strategy: Stick to the Script.” The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “Defining Activism Down: A liberal vote cast in conservative judicial rhetoric.”

Joan Biskupic and Kathy Kiely of USA Today have articles headlined “Sotomayor pressed on ethnicity and gender; Says judgments not based on ‘personal experiences’” and “Sotomayor skillfully fields Senate panel’s volleys; Republican says nominee ‘very charming.’” The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “Beyond Sotomayor’s ‘Latina’ gaffe, consider her record.”

The Washington Times reports that “Sotomayor disavows ‘wise Latina’ remark; Republican inquisitors skeptical about her racial impartiality.” And Armstrong Williams has an op-ed entitled “Sotomayor’s nomination doesn’t reflect her past.”

In The Washington Post, columnist Ruth Marcus has an op-ed entitled “A Price for Sotomayor: In the Senate, the Deference Wars Never End.”

David Lightman and Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers report that “Sotomayor explains her ‘wise Latina’ comment.”

Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor has articles headlined “Sotomayor won’t budge on ‘reverse discrimination’ ruling; The Supreme Court nominee said Tuesday that she had to follow legal precedent; Critics in the Senate sharply disagreed” and “Sotomayor: ‘wise Latina’ a bad choice of words; But during Tuesday’s hearing, the Supreme Court nominee demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of the law and jurisprudence.”

And law.com’s Tony Mauro reports that “During Senate Questioning, Sotomayor Explains Controversial Statements, Defends Rulings.”

“Sotomayor set to return for more senate questions”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report.

The AP also has articles headlined “Fact check: Sotomayor tied abortion ban, slavery?“;

“Sotomayor is mum on PR statehood vs. independence“;

“Hearings captivate nominee’s former NYC neighbors“;

“Sotomayor questioned about terror suspects“;

“Firefighters’ reaction to Sotomayor mixed“; and

“Sotomayor says foreign law can’t be used.”

“Sotomayor cool under Republican grilling”: Andrew Quinn and James Vicini of Reuters have this report.

“Sotomayor Vows to Value Legal Stability as Trailblazing Justice”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.

And Bloomberg News columnist Ann Woolner has an essay entitled “Sotomayor Hearing Exposes a Lie We Should Believe.”

“Cricket, Ivy League classmates startled student Sonia Sotomayor”: CNN.com has this report today.

The two earlier articles in this series were headlined “Sotomayor was schoolgirl with focus, determination, friends say” and “Family hails Sonia Sotomayor’s Puerto Rican roots.”

“Sotomayor Leaves Passion Behind in Her Testimony”: This article will appear Wednesday in The New York Times.

“Grasping at Nunchucks in the Hearing Room”: Dana Milbank will have this installment of his “Washington Sketch” column Wednesday in The Washington Post.