Free Republic

Federal Bench: Yet another judicial nominee seeks to impose the "empathy" standard on the courts. He thinks judges should base rulings on a plaintiff's status, legislate from the bench and amend the Constitution. Indiana federal judge David Hamilton stands poised to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to assume a seat on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals serving Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. He's a former fundraiser for Acorn and a former leader of the Indiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. He is also another in a series of activist judges who believe the U.S. Constitution is not...

Gun Control: The Supreme Court agrees to decide if the Second Amendment applies to all of us, or just Washington, D.C. Why would the Founders put in the Bill of Rights something applying only to a federal enclave? In a 5-4 decision last year written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court overturned a draconian District of Columbia gun ban enacted 32 years ago that barred private ownership of handguns at all. Scalia wrote that an individual's right to bear arms is supported by "the historical narrative" both before and after the Second Amendment was adopted. The court ruled that...

(English-language translation) Yesterday's media headlines in Puerto Rico and the United States leave no room for doubt over the historical impact the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor as the 111th justice to join the United States Supreme Court has. The fact that the judge, the daughter of Puerto Rican parents, is the third woman to reach the highest court in the U.S. is in itself historic. In addition, however, she is the first member of the Hispanic community to join this body which interprets the application of the American Constitution. This factor is a transcendental step in making the Supreme...

Here is video of Sonia Sotomayor being sworn-in today as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She will be "invested as a member of the Court" on September 8 in a special session of the Supreme Court. But the swearing-in today allows her to begin her work as an Associate Justice. Sotomayor took the oath with her mother holding a Bible and her brother standing beside her. Chief Justice John Roberts administered the Oath, holding the text of the oath in his hands. . . .(Watch Video)

“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion [as a judge] than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”

Here is video of Sonia Sotomayor being confirmed by the U.S. Senate as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Her confirmation was announced by Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota as he presided in the Senate Session. Sotomayor was confirmed by a 68-31 vote, and becomes the 111th person to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. Sotomayor is the first Hispanic to sit on the high court. She replaces Justice David Souter, who was always a reliable liberal vote on the court. . . . . . . . (Watch Video)

The Senate's top Republican said Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor fails the test of impartiality despite her impressive background, while the senior Democrat defended her as a mainstream moderate, as the Senate prepared to debate the judge expected to be confirmed as the first Hispanic and third female justice. Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Democratic Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada previewed their parties' dueling arguments Tuesday over President Barack Obama's nominee, who is expected to sail through the Senate this week with bipartisan support. Most GOP senators have lined up against Sotomayor, but a handful are siding with...

So much for my prediction of 75 votes to confirm; with Sessions, Kyl, and now even Maverick against her, she’ll be lucky to break 70. I’m honestly stunned, for the same reason Hotline is: McCain voted against Sotomayor’s nomination to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in ‘98, so his decision is not entirely surprising. But like his friend and GOP colleague, Sen. Lindsey Graham (SC), McCain has decried the politicization of judicial nominations that led to a failed Dem filibuster of Justice Samuel Alito. Graham, citing a desire to “start over” on the Senate’s advise and consent role, was...

   Zogby/O'Leary Poll Reveals Majority of Voters Will Oppose Senators Who Vote to Confirm an Anti-Second Amendment Supreme Court Nominee Strong Majority of Independents, Democrats and Obama Voters Support the Right to Carry a FirearmWashington, D.C. (PRWEB) August 3, 2009 -- Next week the full U.S. Senate will vote on whether or not to confirm President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor. Many analysts are predicting a mostly party-line vote, however, a recent poll conducted by Zogby International and The O'Leary Report may give Senators from both parties some pause. (The poll was conducted July 21-24, surveyed 4,470 voters,...

What a bunch of hypocritical fools these leaders are in the Democratic Party...They are giving us a warning, yet forget their own history...

Sotomayor is a criminal - sorry, alleged criminal - and this website explains how. http://www.judicial-discipline-reform.org/ The information on this website is presumably why the Senate Judiciary Committee has rescheduled the confirmation vote. I would say anytime you fail to mention around $3.5 million in assets, as Sotomayor did, you might find yourself running afoul of the law. But then what does she know? She's "just a judge". Dr. Richard Cordero has amassed voluminous evidence against her. The committee knows about it, but they are stalling to see what the public reaction will be. Well, we are going to have to...

- - - - “Saying “NO” to Sonia” - - - - “Sotomayor Committee Vote Scheduled For Tuesday, July 28, at 10:00 A.M.” / http://judiciary.senate.gov/ Contact your US Senator to Vote "NO" on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. - A brief summary of comments in opposition to the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. (Why she is unsuitable to serve on the US Supreme Court.) Info & Links below... IF the Judiciary Committee votes approval on Tues, then I expect they will announce their schedule for debate and a vote by the full US Senate. Does anyone know if...

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Lindsey Graham has voted in favor of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Republicans fear he has been replaced by a pod person. For the past several weeks Lindsey Graham has been vehemently opposed to the appointment of Sonia Sotomayor. In his online blog, LindseyisaMansName.org, Graham has repeatedly claimed her judgment is clouded by racism and liberal bias. Last week he was held by police, but never charged, for some graffiti sprayed in the GOP Senator’s locker room crudely made to look like it was left by Sotomayor. He was quoted in The New Republic as saying, “Sonia Sotomayor...

Sen. Jeff Sessions believes Judge Sotomayor would be an activist Justice on the Supreme Court.

Link only, per FR copyright and excerpt rules

<p>A political ad that lucky New Yorkers get to see on television begins with "A million lawyers in America" and goes on to wonder about certain no-bid contracts in nearby New Jersey that will not concern us today. But every time the ad runs, I cannot help thinking about Sonia Sotomayor: A million lawyers in America and Barack Obama chooses her for the Supreme Court.</p>

Sen. Susan Collins announced Tuesday that she would become the fourth Senate Republican to support Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. The support from the Maine centrist is the latest sign that Sotomayor will be confirmed by a comfortable majority before the Senate adjourns for its summer recess on Aug. 7. "Judge Sotomayor has impressive legal experience, has excelled throughout her life and is a tremendously accomplished person," Collins said. "And based on my review of her record, my assessment of her character and my analysis of her adherence to precedent, Judge Sotomayor warrants confirmation to the high court."

Friday, July 17, 2009 - Senate Republican Leader will deliver remarks on the Senate floor Monday outlining his opposition to Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court - ‘If, however, Judge Sotomayor were to become a Supreme Court Justice, there would be no backstop. Her rulings would be final. She’d be unencumbered by the obligation of lower court judges to follow precedent. She could act more freely on the kinds of views that animated her troubling and legally incorrect ruling in the Ricci case. That’s not a chance I’m willing to take.’ WASHINGTON, D.C.- Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell will formally...

Judge Sonia Sotomayor ended four days of testimony this afternoon with prospects of rapid confirmation to the Supreme Court improved, as a conservative Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee edged toward endorsing her and the panel's ranking Republican said the GOP would not block a vote on her nomination. Shortly before the committee concluded its questioning of Sotomayor, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the panel's senior GOP member, told Sotomayor he would "look forward to you getting that vote" by the time the Senate takes its annual summer break, slated to begin Aug. 7.

AP: Judge Sonia Sotomayor said Wednesday neither President Barack Obama nor anyone else in the administration asked her views on abortion rights before she was nominated for the Supreme Court.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) asked Judge Sonia Sotomayor if she watched the MLB All-Star game last night. Sen. Leahy (D-VT) also chimes in.

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, July 14, 2009, before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor talks with Senate Judiciary Committee members Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, left, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday July 14, 2009, during a break in her confimation hearing before the committee. Disclaimer: This thread is for humor purposes only - let's keep it free of demeaning or inappropriate comments! thanx :)

(Corrected) Gun Control: In a case headed for the Supreme Court, a three-judge panel rules Chicago's gun ban constitutional since the 2nd Amendment doesn't apply to states and cities. High court nominee Sonia Sotomayor concurs.Those Pennsylvania townsfolk bitterly clinging to their guns may have been premature in celebrating the decision in D.C. v. Heller that the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does indeed guarantee an individual right to keep and bear arms.

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that she considered Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion, to be “settled law”...Dr. Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, said Roe is “anything but settled law.”“This question of Roe as settled law goes to a central point in the testimony we’ll be providing on Thursday morning: Roe is not settled law,” Yoest said in a statement

Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor Calls Roe Abortion Case "Settled Law" Washington, DC -- Everyone watching the Senate hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor knew the question about abortion case law would come eventually. When it did, Sotomayor gave the answer most political observers expected -- that the Roe v. Wade abortion case is "settled law." http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5218.html

A man was removed from the Sotomayor hearing after he yelled "she's a baby killer" among other comments.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor says Gonzales v. Carhart, a case regarding partial-birth abortion is "settled law."

While explaining her "personal experiences" comment, Judge Sonia Sotomayor admitted it was a "rhetorical flourish" that fell flat. "It was clearly not what I intended [to say]," Sotomayor concluded.

"No words I have ever spoken or written have received so much attention," Sotomayor began. Judge Sotomayor says she was telling an audience that she was trying to inspire a group to be "anything they wanted to become" through her own experiences. "I do not believe that any ethnic, racial or gender group has an advantage in sound judging," Sotomayor explained. "I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge regardless of their background or life experiences," she concluded.

It's not just Barack Obama who sends a thrill up Chris Matthews's leg anymore. Sonia Sotomayor gives the Hardball host a tingle, too . . . Chatting with Maria Teresa Petersen of Voto Latino and Newsweek's Howard Fineman on this afternoon's show, Matthews said it was hearing Sotomayor recount the story of how she, her mother and her brother pulled themselves up by their bootstraps that gave him that warm 'n fuzzy feeling. Petersen teased Matthews, asking for the thrill's specific location . . . View video here.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says Judge Sonia Sotomayor may be a "trade-up" from Justice David Souter.

Today in Washington, DC at the United States Senate, U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor will undergo at least several days of examination of her fitness to become a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), which is a lifetime position on the highest court in the land. ...The most common dictionary definition of the word “racialist” is that it is “an emphasis on race or racial considerations, as in determining policy or interpreting events.” We’ve already been told of Judge Sotomayor’s declaration — when she thought she was speaking off the record —...

"I'm getting one of those thrills I get about America," Chris Matthews said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't say this and I'm getting it again," he said. Matthews concluded he got the "thrill" after Sotomayor "talked about sitting at that table and not being a genius like Barack Obama."

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) delivers his opening statement at the confirmation hearing of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. He was interrupted once by a protester. Franken told Sotomayor that she was "the most experienced Supreme Court nominee in 100 years." He said her story is inspirational and one in which "all Americans should take great pride in."

I’m madder than a Mexican jumping bean in a chili dog! Today they’re having meetings about that Sonya Sotomayor they want on the Supreme Court. What a disaster! The Teleprompter Kid picked a broad who had to read kids’ books in college, to fix her English! Why not just cut to the chase and appoint Mr. Rogers? I ask you: would a “wise Latina” all herself a “wise Latina” in public? Doesn’t stuff like that make her sound… stupid? If we need a Mexican on this thing, I say we treat her no different than the other ones, and make...

Sen. Chuck Grassley on if cap-and-trade is "dead" in the Senate: "When you've Democrats that are leading this Congress, and Gore pushing them in the religious way he's pushing them, they're going to want to produce something."

Sen. Lindsey Graham to Sonia Sotomayor: "Unless you have a complete meltdown, you will be confirmed."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) opening statement was interrupted by a protester who yelled "what about abortion?" and "stop the genocide of unborn Latinos!"

WASHINGTON -- This week's hearings on Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court represent the opening skirmish in a long-term struggle to challenge the escalating activism of an increasingly conservative judiciary. The Senate's Republican minority does not expect to derail Sotomayor, who would be the first Hispanic and only the third woman to serve on the court, and they realize that their attack lines against her have failed to ignite public attention, or even much interest. Her restrained record as a lower court judge has made it impossible to cast her credibly as a liberal judicial activist.

Second Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor recently held that the Constitution does not protect the right to keep and bear arms against infringement by state and local governments. Her defenders maintain that she was merely applying settled precedent, which only the Supreme Court itself is authorized to reconsider. This is a half truth that conceals more than it reveals. Last year, the Supreme Court resolved a longstanding debate by holding that the Second Amendment's right to keep and bear arms includes the right of American citizens to have weapons for personal self defense. Accordingly, the Court struck down a D.C. statute...

As the confirmation hearings for President Barack Obama's Supreme Court appointee Sonia Sotomayor are upon us, the left-wing attack machine had to take a few last shots ranking Senate Judiciary Committee Republican Sen. Jeff Session, Ala., and the Republican Party as a whole. MSNBC host Rachel Maddow explained the junior Alabama senator would take over the spot after Sen. Arlen Specter's defection to the Democratic Party on her July 10 program, suggesting his selection to the post was part of some rebranding by the GOP. "Republicans have also decided to have Senator Jeff Sessions lead this battle for them," Maddow...

Supporters of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor are quietly targeting the Connecticut firefighter who's at the center of Sotomayor's most controversial ruling. On the eve of Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearing, her advocates have been urging journalists to scrutinize what one called the "troubled and litigious work history" of firefighter Frank Ricci. This is opposition research: a constant shadow on Capitol Hill. "The whole business of getting Supreme Court nominees through the process has become bloodsport," said Gary Rose, a government and politics professor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. On Friday, citing in an e-mail "Frank Ricci's troubled and...

For all the publicity about the Supreme Court's 5-4 reversal of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's decision (with two colleagues) to reject a discrimination suit by a group of firefighters against New Haven, Conn., one curious aspect of the case has been largely overlooked.That is the likelihood that but for a chance discovery by a fourth member of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, the now-triumphant 18 firefighters (17 white and one Hispanic) might well have seen their case, Ricci v. DeStefano, disappear into obscurity, with no triumph, no national publicity and no Supreme Court review.

The Supreme Court tweaked the edges of discrimination law in its New Haven firefighters decision last week, but otherwise left the evasions and euphemisms of that hoary edifice largely intact. This is probably as it should be. It is not for the Court to deconstruct our official legal discourse about race unless it is explicitly asked to do so. But the political branches need not be so constrained. Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s upcoming confirmation hearings are the perfect occasion to question the assumptions that underlie the race industry, since Sotomayor, with her history of launching racism accusations, has been, and promises...

We wonder what Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has to hide. Her confirmation hearing starts Monday, but the White House refuses to turn over boxes of documents for review about her past. Republican senators requested board meeting minutes of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, where Ms. Sotomayor served on the board of directors from 1980 to 1992. White House Counsel Greg Craig contends that all documents deemed "responsive" already were sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Contrary to White House dodging, these board meetings may be important in evaluating Ms. Sotomayor's legal and policy reasoning because the...

The National Rifle Association has finally weighed in on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, and while it doesn't come right out and oppose her, it does suggest that she's antigun. In a letter to the Senate from NRA Executive Director Chris Cox, the nation's largest gun-rights group mentions several court cases Sotomayor has reviewed that put limits on the Second Amendment. It even cites a footnote in one case where the court claimed that "the right to possess a gun is clearly not a fundamental right." Dear Chairman Leahy and Ranking Member Sessions:I am writing to express the National Rifle...

Sen. John McCain touched on a variety of topics with The Daily Courier while visiting Prescott July 4, from single-payer health care to a revived push for a national scenic area designation in the Sedona area. . . . . . Other topics with McCain included: . . . . . * Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. McCain said he hasn't decided how he will vote on Sotomayor, especially since he still needs to talk to fellow Sen. Jon Kyl about her. Kyl serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A heavily publicized U.S. Supreme Court reversal of an appeals court ruling by Judge Sonia Sotomayor has at least temporarily diminished public support for President Obama's first Supreme Court nominee.

Sotomayor Cases Reviewed by the Supreme Court • Affirmative Action: Ricci v. DeStefano 530 F.3d 87 (2008) - pending (now reversed 5-4) Sotomayor was part of a three-judge panel that ruled in February 2008 to uphold a lower court decision supporting the City of New Haven's decision to throw out the results of an exam to determine promotions within the city's fire department. Only one Hispanic and no African-American firefighters qualified for promotion based on the exam; the City subsequently decided not to certify the results and issued no promotions. In June 2008, Sotomayor was part of a 7-6 majority...