In the hearing room -- what to expect

AP reporters will be stationed in the Senate room where Sotomayor's confirmation hearing will take place. Have a question for them? Send it to us on Twitter @AP_Courtside. In the meantime, they answered this one: What are you most interested in seeing or hearing next week?

Larry Margasak: "How hard the Republicans go after (Sotomayor), given their perilous standing with Hispanics. Whether they'll stick to criticism using a few 'safe' Republican themes: abortion, guns, reverse discrimination."

Jesse J. Holland: "How she parries GOP questions on abortion, gun rights, etc., because it'll show how well she prepared."

Laurie Kellman: "Getting to know Sotomayor, because these hearings tend to be the most we learn about justices until they write books and/or retire."

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Confirmation hearings: the drinking game

Fri Jul 10, 5:26 pm ET

The rules: Every time a Senate Judiciary Committee member self-promotes, take a swig. But water down those cocktails if you want to make it through the first day.

Senators like nothing more than talking -- often about themselves, not always subtly. And preferably, on camera.

Definition of "self-promote": self-serving rhetoric of any past, present or future endeavor that voters back home might like to hear.

Example: Don't be surprised to hear long-timers like Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., harken back to the good old days, "when I was chairman." Listen for name-dropping, favorite recollections of a moment of legislative glory and frequent invocation of a senator's home state.

To illustrate: Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., executed a sip-worthy line in
1993 during Ruth Bader Ginsberg's hearing. His first statement after "Thank you, Mr. Chairman" and "Judge, I welcome you and your family," was an aside about how Ginsberg got the call from the Clinton White House when she was in -- wait for it -- Vermont!

(Drink!)

Muttered then-chairman Joe Biden: "I wondered how you were going to get Vermont into this."

-Laurie Kellman, AP reporter, Congress

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Let the show begin

Fri Jul 10, 4:46 pm ET

AP Washington Bureau Chief Ron Fournier, a veteran political writer, and Donna Cassata, AP Washington news editor and long-time political editor, give their take on what next week's Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings to be a Supreme Court justice are all about:

                                                                  
SPOILER ALERT: Sonia Sotomayor gets confirmed.

Barring an unforeseen scandal or surprise, the high political drama that is a Supreme Court confirmation hearing will push the New York City native further down the road toward donning the black robes of a Supreme Court justice.

So why bother? Well, there are many actors involved, many scripts and many motives that require this show to go on.

Let's look at the cast:

THE REPUBLICANS: GOP senators know they're going to lose, but they hope to set a benchmark for future confirmation hearings. Their message: We're not going to roll over. This may not be President Barack Obama's only chance to fill a vacant seat. The next justice to depart could be one of the conservatives, whose replacement could dramatically shift the ideological tilt the court. Sotomayor, on the other hand, would replace Justice David Souter -- a liberal for a liberal.

THE DEMOCRATS: They are bracing for the next fight, too. Democratic senators want to prove to party activists, particularly the online variety, that they are liberal and tough enough to deserve backing.
Democrats also need to show their new president that they're in his corner.

THE INTEREST GROUPS: It's all about the money. Win or lose, Republican and Democratic lobbying shops reach into their supporters pockets at a time like this, when their causes seem the most relevant.

THE MEDIA: Journalists love conflict, and there will be plenty of that.

On with the show.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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The Supreme Court and You

Thu Jul 9, 10:46 am ET

Don't just watch the hearing — get your own backstage pass. Tune in to Yahoo! News beginning Monday morning to join Associated Press reporters inside the hearing room where senators will consider whether Sonia Sotomayor will be the next associate justice of the Supreme Court.

AP journalists will be blogging continuously from the hearing and offering insight, context and perspective from around the world on the issues facing the court and the Senate Judiciary Committee. You’ll also find a doorway to some of the most authoritative coverage from major newspapers.

Want to pose your own questions to reporters and their sources? Follow AP_Courtside on Twitter and make your voice heard.